Sept. 21, 2012
TEMPE, Ariz. - Behind an all-star performance by Macey Gardner's 25 kills, the Arizona State volleyball team outlasted Washington State 3-1 on Friday night with set scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23. The Sun Devils improve to 12-3 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 action with the win.
Washington State drops to 10-4 on the year and 0-2 in conference. ASU's top hitters were Macey Gardner who posted 25 kills, just three shy of her career match record and Erica Wilson who recorded 19. Allison Palmer had 52 assists and 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. WSU was led offensively by Jaicee Harris and Rachel Todorovich's 15 and 13 kills, respectively.
The first set opened up with two evenly matched teams battling for points back and forth. Led by Nora Tuioti-Mariner, the Sun Devils picked up moment with a 4-0 run to put ASU up 13-10. Never losing the advantage over the Cougars, Wilson recorded a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage, connecting on four kills. The Sun Devils closed out the opening set with a kill by Macey Gardner to put away WSU 25-18.
Feels good to get the win tonight! 12-3 on the year for @thesundevils VB. We host next week on @pac12 Network too thesundevils.com/sports/w-volle... @asu
-- Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) September 22, 2012
Washington State got out to an early lead in the second set, up as high as nine points at one point in the frame. While Gardner recorded seven of her total 25 kills in the session, the Cougars ended the second set on top 20-25.
Set three was the Gardner and Wilson show. At the end of the period the duo accounted for 31 of the Sun Devils' 42 kills at that point. After going on a 4-0 run mid set, the momentum swung in ASU's favor and helped the Sun Devils to the third-set victory, 25-21.
The crowd of 833 was behind Arizona State heading into the fourth set. Looking for their first win of the Pac-12 season, the Sun Devils put away a nagging WSU team on a fitting kill down the middle by Wilson to finish up the set 25-23 and securing the victory, 3-1.
Up Next:
ASU hosts California on Friday, Sept. 28 (Youth Volleyball Night) at 6 p.m. and Stanford on Sept. 30, Sunday, (High School Night) at 6 p.m. Both matches will be on the Pac-12 Network, while the match against Stanford will be on the National Network.