Sept. 16, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Arizona State volleyball team lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Oregon State on Friday afternoon to drop to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in Pac-12 action.
The Sun Devils fell 19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 16-25, 14-16 as OSU improves to 9-2 on the year and 1-0 in conference play.
"We created opportunities for ourselves," head coach Jason Watson said. "I liked a lot of what we did - it was a great match and we came up short."
Despite dropping the first set 25-19, the Sun Devils took control in the second, 25-21, by registering 11 kills and holding the Beavers to a .000 attack percentage.
Set three saw the score tie six times but it was again A-State that rallied to take the stanza at 25-19. Ashley Kastl continues to pace the club in kills, putting up 19 on the night and nine in the third frame.
Kastl helped take the helm in the set at the 18-17 mark, setting up Danica Mendivil for a kill. She then threw down back-to-back kills from Sarah McGaffin to give Arizona State a cushion with a 22-17 lead. The duo would repeat two points later en route to the sets final point at 25-19.
McGaffin gave a strong performance for ASU, tallying a season match-high 50 assists, which was a best for both teams.
"I felt we grew and continue to learn more about playing well for long periods of time," said Watson.
After dropping the fourth frame 25-16, Arizona State opened the final set going up 4-0. From there the Beavers pecked point-for-point to tie it at 9-9. ASU stayed within reach up to 14-14 until OSU edged ahead 16-14 to claim the set and match 3-2.
The Sun Devils stay on the road as they head to Eugene, Ore., on Sunday for a 1 p.m. start time against the Ducks of Oregon (8-1, 1-0 Pac-12).