Oct. 18, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Behind a pair of 20-kill efforts from outside hitters Juliana Escobar and Natalie Harris, the Arizona State Sun Devils earned a thrilling come-from-behind five-game victory over the Oregon State Beavers Saturday night in Pac-10 Volleyball action at Wells Fargo Arena. Game scores were 29-31, 30-16, 27-30, 30-25, 15-13 in favor of the Sun Devils.
The victory completed a weekend sweep of the Oregon schools, as ASU also defeated Oregon in three games to start the weekend home stand. The Devils improve to 8-10 overall and 3-6 in Pac-10 play with their second win in a five-match game this season. Oregon State drops to 12-9 overall and 2-7 in Pac-10 play.
Escobar (Brasilia, Brazil) led the Devils 22 kills on a .340 (22-6-47) hitting percentage. She also added a team-high four service aces, one block and eight digs for 26.5 total points. Harris (Tempe, Ariz.) was right behind Escobar, notching 21 kills and as season-high 18 digs. She also contributed three aces and three blocks to finish with a team-high 27.0 points. The 20-plus kill efforts from Escobar and Harris marks the first time since ASU's NCAA tournament match against Cincinnati in 2002 that the Devils have had a pair of players reach 20 or more kills.
Senior middle blocker Mandy Stephens (Napa, Calif.) also had a solid match with a season-high 15 kills on a .379 hitting percentage and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Watkins (Mishawaka, Ind.) was the fourth Devil to reach double-digits in kills with 11. Senior libero Courtney Blocher led the Devil defense with a season-high 22 digs, marking her eighth career match with 20 or more digs.
Oregon State's leaders were freshman Brittany Cahoon, with 16 kills, and junior Anne Watts-Roberts, who also had 16 kills. Oregon State's leading blocker was senior Laura Collins who contributed six blocks to the team that out-blocked ASU 15.0 to 7.0 for the match.
The Sun Devils will travel to Tucson next weekend (Oct. 25) to take on intrastate rivals Arizona (9-10) for the rivalry's second match of the season. ASU defeated Arizona earlier in the year with a thrilling five-game victory at Wells Fargo Arena.
--Sun Devil Volleyball--