Nov. 17, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Sophomore middle blocker Jodi Smith tallied a career high 21 kills to lead four Sun Devils with double digits in kills, helping lead Arizona State to a convincing 3-1 win over California in Pac-10 volleyball action Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
The 30-24, 31-29, 25-30, 30-25 win improved ASU to 9-15 overall and 4-12 in Pac-10 play. The win over Cal also gave ASU head coach Patti Snyder-Park her 200th of her career. Cal falls to 8-17 overall and 3-14 in Pac-10 play. The victory also capped off a perfect day for Sun Devil Athletics, as the Men's Basketball team soundly defeated Stephen F. Austin 92-61, the defending Pac-10 Champion Women's Basketball team opened the 2001 campaign by handing St. Peters a 72-67 defeat and the Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving squads both upset nationally ranked USC.
In addition to Smith's career night with 21 kills, the sophomore from St. Johns, Ariz., also added a career-high five digs. Smith, who hit .486 in the match behind a career-high 44 attacks, becomes the third Sun Devil this year to record 20 or more kills in a match this year.
"What you saw out of Jodi Smith tonight was domination," said Snyder-Park. "This is what she is capable of doing and she is only getting better. This is really only her second full year of volleyball and she will continue to get better and better. She was just amazing tonight."
Outside hitter Jami Coughlin (Glendale, Ariz.), who was honored before the match on senior night, capped her ASU home career with a stellar performance, contributing 15 kills and 12 digs to tally record her 16th double-double of the year. Coughlin, who is second in career digs and sixth in career kills in ASU Volleyball history, moved into fifth place in the Pac-10 career record books with 1,492 career digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Kim Mehlhorn (Tempe, Ariz.) continued her solid play in Pac-10 matches, recording 17 kills and nine digs. Mehlhorn now has 13 consecutive matches with 10 or more kills. Junior middle blocker Julia Leddy (Mesa, Ariz.) was the fourth Devil to record double digits in kills, tallying 16 in the match while hitting .625. Sophomore setter Cheryl Anglin recorded a season-best 68 assist by running the Sun Devil offense to perfection, turning in the 13th 60+ assist match of her career. Freshman Alicia Akporiaye turned in one of her better all-around performances of the year, recording eight kills, 13 digs and five total blocks.
"It was a team effort tonight and I am really proud of how our team competed this weekend," said Snyder-Park. "We played one of the toughest teams in the nation last night and did some good things. And then tonight, we put the whole package together and gave Jami Coughlin a Senior Night she will never forget."
Gabrielle Abernathy led the Golden Bears with 18 kills, while Leah Young (15 kills), Camille Leffall (11 kills) and Heather Diers (11 kills) all chipped in solid performances. Setter Candace McNamee paced the Golden Bear offense with 53 assists in the defeat.
The Sun Devils will conclude the 2001 season next weekend with a pair of matches at Stanford (Nov. 24, 1 p.m.) and at Cal (Nov. 25, 3 p.m.). ASU's latest end to the regular season in recent history is due to the postponement of the Cal and Stanford matches from earlier in the year due to the Sept. 11 national tragedy.
--Sun Devil Volleyball--