Dec. 6, 2002
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LINCOLN, Neb. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Junior outside hitter Juliana Escobar recorded 23 kills and 26 digs and senior middle blocker Julia Leddy had 22 kills on a .500 attack percentage to lead the Arizona State Sun Devil Volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats Friday night in first-round action of the 2002 NCAA Volleyball Tournament in Lincoln, Neb. Game scores were 35-33, 30-20, 27-30, 19-30, 15-10 in favor of the Sun Devils.
Arizona State will face national No. 3-seed Nebraska at 7 p.m. Saturday night at NU Coliseum in the second round of the tournament. The Huskers were a three-game winner over Tennessee-Martin in the second match Friday night.
In a match that perfectly characterized Arizona State's entire 2002 season, the Sun Devils prevailed for the seventh time in eight tries this year in a five-game match. Jumping ahead 2-0 to start the match, ASU lost the next two games to force the fifth game, and then advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in as many trips with a 15-10 win in game five. The Sun Devils, who entered the tournament with the least number of wins among the 64-team field by way of a rugged Pac-10 slate, improved to 15-11 overall. Cincinnati finished its season with a 23-9 mark. ASU is now 7-13 in its 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament.
"This was exactly the way our season has gone, up and down," said ASU head coach Patti Snyder-Park who is in her 14th and final season as ASU's head coach. " It's your typical NCAA, five-game thriller. We knew our match with Cincinnati would be fairly close. They're a good team. We have similar strengths and similar weaknesses. I think we're pretty lucky tonight, but I'll take it. We came out hard in game five, and I think that's a testament to Julia Leddy and Juliana Escobar -- especially to Leddy. She wants the ball. I was very proud of Leddy and Escobar tonight, as well as our whole team. We didn't give up."
Escobar (Brasilia, Brazil) was ASU's go-to weapon when it counted, notching her second 20-20 match of the year and her 16th double-double in 2002. Playing in her first postseason match after earning the AVCA Junior College Player of the Year honor last year at Barton County CC, Escobar tied a career-high with 26 digs and led all players with 27 total points. She moved up to 16th in the ASU single-season record books now with 405 kills and with two more service aces has 49 on the year to rank fifth in the ASU record books.
"We have that confidence heading into game five that we can't really explain," said Escobar, who became ASU's 11th player to earn All-Pac-10 first team honors. "We stay together as a team and fight to the end."
Leddy (Mesa, Ariz.) continued her impressive play by tying her season high with 22 kills and was one off her career high with 22 Friday night vs. the Bearcats. With a .500 (22-3-38) attack percentage she improved her season mark to an ASU all-time best .369 on the year. The senior captain also added three digs and three total blocks.
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"We have that confidence heading into game five that we can't really explain. We stay together as a team and fight to the end." -- Juliana Escobar |
"It's that five-game karma that kind of just gives us the boost we need," said Leddy about ASU's 7-1 record in five-game matches this year. "We were up and down, but we stayed with it and played well in that fifth game. I am excited to be playing Nebraska. We've played USC and Stanford each twice this year, and they're right up there with Nebraska."
In addition to the solid matches from Leddy and Escobar, the Devils had five total players with 10 or more kills for only the second time this year. Junior outside hitter Kim Mehlhorn (Tempe, Ariz.) continued a late-season hot streak with a season-high 17 kills and matched her career high with 19 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Redshirt sophomore Natalie Harris (Tempe, Ariz.) also continued her solid play with 16 kills and now has an average of 13.8 kills in the last five matches (3.63 kpg average). Not to be out-done were the 11 kills from junior middle blocker Jodi Smith (St. Johns, Ariz.), nine of which came in ASU's three game wins.
"You have to tip your hat to Arizona State, they played well and they're well coached. (Juliana) Escobar and (Julia) Leddy pretty much killed us tonight," commented Cincinnati head coach Reed Sunahara.
Escobar led the Devils with 26 digs, but ASU also received solid defense from junior Courtney Blocher (Scottsdale, Ariz.) with 14 digs and 20 digs from senior libero Brittany Arnett (Mesa, Ariz.). Junior setter Cheryl Anglin (Queen Creek, Ariz.) recorded a match-high 70 assists for her fifth career match of 70 or more assists. The 70-assist performance is tied for the 12th best in ASU single-match history. Anglin, who is second in the career record books with 3,537, now owns the second (84), fifth (77), sixth (76) and 12th (70) best assist performance in ASU history. She also added as season-high 19 digs for her fifth double-double (assists/digs) of the year.
The Devils trailed nearly the entire first game to the Bearcats, but held tough by pulling to within one point seven times before finally tying the match at 20-20. ASU gained its first lead of the game at 25-24 and then battled through three Cincinnati game points to pull off the 35-33 win. Trailing 32-32, the Sun Devils rallied to score the next three points and capped the win with a double block by Harris and Smith. Leddy and Harris led the Devils each with seven kills in the opening frame, followed by the five from Escobar.
The second game featured a complete reversal of fortunes, as it was the Sun Devils this time that took the commanding lead. But unlike the Bearcats in game one, ASU wouldn't let up en route to the win. Never trailing in the game and only tied twice early in the second frame, the Devils gained a decisive 30-20 win to go into the intermission up two games to none. Led by eight more kills from Leddy and six from Mehlhorn, the Devils hit a scorching .408 (23-3-49) with only three hitting errors.
After falling down early 22-12, the Sun Devils wouldn't quit and nearly pulled even before falling 30-27 in the third game. With a 10-point Bearcat lead, Snyder-Park called a timeout and then watcher her team go on a 7-0 run to pull to within three points at 22-19. ASU came within one point four times at 22-23, 24-25, 26-27 and 27-28, but couldn't gain the equalizer before Cincinnati pulled out the 30-27 victory. Harris led ASU with six kills in the game.
The fourth game was much like the third game, only ASU did not post a comeback. The Bearcats tied the match at two game apiece. Trailing only once in the game at 1-0, Cincinnati used a balanced attack and a dismal ASU -.022 hitting percentage by the Sun Devils to win the game. Escobar had four kills to lead ASU and put her over the 20-kill mark for the match.
Much like they have all season long, the Devils faced a deciding fifth time and for the seventh time in eight tries, they were successful in victory. Rebounding to hit .435 in the game, the middle blocker combination of Smith and Leddy combined for eight kills (four each) to lead the Devils to a 15-10 victory-clinching win.
1 2 3 4 5 ASU (15-11) 35 30 27 19 15 CIN (23-9) 33 20 30 30 10 ASU Statistical Leaders: KILLS: Escobar (23), Leddy (22), Mehlhorn (17), Harris (16), Smith (11) ASSISTS: Anglin (70), Habiger (8) TOTAL BLOCKS: Leddy (3), Mehlhorn (3) SERVICE ACES: Escobar (2) DIGS: Escobar (26), Arnett (20), Anglin (19), Blocher (14) ATTENDANCE: 1,672