Sept. 7, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The Arizona State volleyball team earned a big 3-2 win over 13th-ranked Pacific in the morning, then backed it up with a 3-0 crushing of Creighton in the afternoon to complete the season-opening Carolina Volleyball Classic with a 2-1 record. Game scores were 30-18, 30-11, 30-20.
The Sun Devils improved to 2-1 on the young season, dropping a 3-1 contest to preseason No. 26 South Carolina to open the tournament, the rebounding for a 3-1 win over Pacific earlier Saturday. The 3-0 victory over Creighton included ASU's most convincing game win (30-11 in game two) since the NCAA adopted the new rally scoring system last year. Creighton drops to 0-4 on the year with the loss.
"It was a very good day for our team, it was just too bad we had to open up with a tough match vs. South Carolina who had a real good home crowd," said ASU head coach Patti Snyder-Park. "It was a very good win vs. Pacific in the morning and it seemed like we were in control of the whole match despite going five games. We got progressively stronger over the weekend and I am very happy with the team's attitude and aggressive play."
Junior outside hitter Juliana Escobar (Sobradinhio DF, Brazil) led the Devils in kills for the third straight match, recording 12 kills while hitting at a .588 clip. She finished the three-match tournament averaging 4.84 kills per game, 3.08 digs per game and used her deadly jump serve to record 15 aces. In comparison, ASU's team leader in service aces (Jami Coughlin) had 28 all year. Her six aces vs. Creighton tied for the seventh most in ASU single-match history.
"Juliana is the real deal and had just a phenomenal weekend," added Snyder-Park on the play of her new outside hitter. "She is real aggressive and it was a good way for her to open. Her jump-serve was almost unstoppable all weekend. She is a fun one to watch and I am sure our fans will enjoy seeing her all over the court."
Senior middle blocker Julia Leddy (Mesa, Ariz.) and redshirt sophomore Natalie Harris (Tempe, Ariz.) each contributed nine kills. Harris, who is coming off shoulder surgery last year, finished three kills off her career high of 12 set in the NCAA Tournament vs. Duke in 2000. Harris also led the Devils with five digs.
Arizona State will next be in action at the Four Points Sheraton/Red Raider Classic next weekend in Lubbock, Texas. The Sun Devils will face Clemson next Saturday (9/14) and then take on host Texas Tech Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST). ASU opens its home and 2002 Pac-10 schedule with No. 3 USC Friday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. --Sun Devil Volleyball--