TEMPE, Ariz.—The No. 15 Arizona State volleyball team returns to the state of Colorado this weekend, competing at the CSU/UNC Tournament, co-hosted by No. 9 Colorado State and Northern Colorado in Fort Collins.
On Friday, ASU will face CSU at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT, in a rematch of the 2014 game in Tempe. The match will be live streamed by the Mountain West Network.
On Saturday, the Sun Devils will take on Western Michigan at 10 a.m. PT/11 a.m. MT, also in Fort Collins, Colo., before taking the short trip to Greeley, Colo., to take on Northern Colorado on its home court at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT. The match against the Bears on Saturday evening will be live streamed via UNCBears.com.
ABOUT THE RAMS (Sept. 4, 6 P.M. PT)
Colorado State opened the 2015 season with three wins, each in straight sets, as it hosted Baylor, UC Davis, and Northern Iowa at the Rams Volleyball Classic.
Against Baylor, Alexandra Polette led the way with 10 kills on 15 attempts and zero errors for a hitting percentage of .667. Adrianna Culbert, the Mountain West Player of the Week, and Crystal Young combined for 30 of 31 assists in the win.
In the win over UC Davis, Culbert and Alex Reid each recorded 10 kills, with Culbert hitting .421. Jasmine Hanna added nine kills on .318 hitting. The Rams held Northern Iowa to .039 hitting, with Culbert and Reid combining for 18 kills, while Acacia Andrews added 7 on .636 hitting.
In 2014, the Sun Devils’ rally fell short as they fell to the Rams in five sets at home as part of the Residence Inn Invitational. Kizzy Ricedorff recorded her first-ever double-double with career bests in both kills (13) and digs (15). Macey Gardner also added 15 kills in the loss.
In the all-time series with the Rams, ASU holds a 10-1 advantage, with the only loss coming a season ago.
ABOUT THE BRONCOS (Sept. 5, 10 A.M. PT)After dropping all three matches in the Pepsi Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Western Michigan Broncos earned their first win on the road against IPFW. Winning the match 3-1, the Broncos are now 1-3 on the season. In the win, the Broncos recorded 58 kills, 8.0 blocks, 159 TA, and a .182 hitting percentage.
In the all-time series with Western Michigan, ASU leads, 2-1. The last time the two teams met, the Broncos bested the Sun Devils in four sets on Aug. 27, 2010.
ABOUT THE BEARS (Sept. 5, 6 P.M. PT)
After dropping the first two matches in UCF Tournament in Orlando, Florida, to UCF (0-3) and SIU (1-3), the University of Northern Colorado Bears beat Delaware in 5 games (3-2). The Bears are now 1-2 on the season. In the win against Delaware, the Bears recorded 64 kills, 6 aces, 11.0 blocks, 179 TA, and a .246 hitting percentage.
ASU leads in the all-time series with Northern Colorado, 5-0. The last time the two teams met was Oct. 20, 1978, with ASU winning in three sets.
LAST TIME OUT
ASU opened the 2015 season at the Falcon Classic, hosted by Air Force, last week, picking up wins over Northeastern, New Mexico State, and the host Falcons.
Against Northeastern, Cassidy Pickrell, Bree Bailey, and Macey Gardner combined for 24 of ASU’s 37 kills, while Whitney Follette added five blocks.
ASU outlasted New Mexico State in five sets, with five Sun Devils totaling 10 or more kills, with Follette and Pickrell tallying 12, Bailey and Gardner with 11, and Kizzy Ricedorff (Willey) with 10. Follette and Mercedes Binns added nine blocks each, a new career best for Follette and tying Binns’ best. The team total of 19.0 blocks sits tied for fourth-most in ASU’s rally scoring era.
The Sun Devils rounded out the weekend with the 3-0 victory over Air Force, with Pickrell tallying 12 and Gardner adding 10 on .300 hitting. Follette added seven kills on .455 hitting, and added six blocks for a weekend total of 23.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils open the home slate on Tuesday, Sept. 8, hosting Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. PT inside Wells Fargo Arena. The match will be live streamed via TheSunDevils.com.
ASU IN THE AVCA POLL
The Sun Devils moved up a spot in the AVCA Volleyball Poll to No. 15 after picking up three wins at the Falcon Classic.
MACEY GARDNER AND THE ROAD TO 2000
In 2007, libero Sydney Donahue set a Pac-12 record with a career total of 2,385 digs.
In 2013, libero Stephanie Preach surpassed the 2,000 dig mark, finishing her career with 2010.
In 2015, Macey Gardner is on pace to become the first Sun Devil to surpass the 2000 mark in kills.
Gardner has recorded 500-plus kills in each of her three seasons with the Sun Devils: 577 in 2012, 506 in 2013, and 594 in 2014.
The school record for kills is 1,871, set by Christine Garner (1992-95), and Gardner needs just 194 to tie that mark.
In the opening weekend of 2015, Gardner amassed 28 kills, bringing her career total to 1,705, third-most in program history.
She is 295 kills from reaching the 2,000 milestone, and she will be the seventh player from the Pac-10/12 to reach that mark. The last time a Pac-12 athlete surpassed 2,000 kills was in 2010 when Stanford’s Alix Klineman finished her career with 2,008.
ASU TOP-4 CAREER KILLS
1. Christine Garner, 1992-95 (1,871)
2. Sarah Reeves, 2007-10 (1,796)
3. Macey Gardner, 2012-present (1,705)
4. Tammy Webb, 1983-86 (1,679)
MORE CAREER RECORDS TO WATCH
Two other Sun Devils look to make moves in the career top-10 lists this season: Whitney Follette and Bianca Arellano.
Follette recorded 23 blocks in the opening weekend of competition, bringing her career total for block assists to 274, No. 7 all-time at ASU. Her total of 331 total blocks also sits at No. 7 all-time at ASU.
Arellano has amassed 2,568 assists in her Sun Devil career, placing her at No. 8 all-time.
ON THE NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Next week, ASU will open the home slate against Northern Arizona on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and then host Gonzaga on Sunday, Sept. 13.
ASU will round out the non-conference portion of the schedule at home, hosting UNLV, Texas Southern, and Illinois as part of the Red Lion Invitational at Wells Fargo Arena on Sept. 18-19. The match against the Illini marks a rematch of the 2013 tilt in Champaign, Ill.
ASU PICKED TO FINISH SECOND IN THE PAC-12
For the first time since 1994, the Sun Devils were picked to finish second in the Pac-12 Conference in the preseason coaches poll, while returning AVCA All-American Macey Gardner was named to the Pac-12 Preseason Team for the third time in her career.
ON THE PAC-12 SLATE
The Sun Devils open the 2015 home slate against Pac-12 rival Arizona on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. PT at Wells Fargo Arena, as part of a four-match home stand with Oregon State, Stanford, and California.
The next two weekends, ASU hits the road for matches against the Washington schools, and then the LA duo of UCLA and USC.
ASU then hosts Utah and Colorado to round out the first half of conference action before taking on a pair of midweek road matches at Stanford and California, followed by a return trip home to host the Washington schools in the first week of November.
The Sun Devils hit the road to face Colorado and Utah before rounding out the regular season home slate against UCLA and USC on Nov. 20 and 22, before finishing off the regular season at Oregon on Nov. 25 and at Arizona on Nov. 27.
ON THE RETURNERS
Leading the Sun Devils this season are the class of five seniors: outside hitter Macey Gardner, setter Bianca Arellano, middle blocker Whitney Follette, middle blocker Mercedes Binns, and outside hitter Andi Lowrance.
Starting in each set and each match last season, AVCA All-American Gardner led the way with 594 kills—No. 2 in the single season top-10 at ASU, while Arellano added 1417 assists and a team-leading 28 service aces. Also getting the start in each of the 34 matches was Binns, who added 278 kills and 109 total blocks.
Follette missed action during the non-conference portion of the season and the beginning of last year’s Pac-12 slate, but returned strong and finished the year with 181 kills and 87 blocks, while Lowrance earned seven starts and appeared in 13 more matches, totaling 61 kills and 31 blocks.
Also back in action for ASU is sophomore libero Halle Harker, junior defensive specialist Mia Mazon, junior outside hitter Kizzy Ricedorff (Willey), and junior outside hitter Bree Bailey.
Harker finished her freshman season with 521 digs, the No. 10 mark in the single-season list, also the freshman record. Harker also recorded a career best total of 34 digs against Oregon on Nov. 15, the highest single-game total for a freshman. Harker is on pace to become the 17th Sun Devil to surpass the 1,000-dig milestone.
Bailey and Ricedorff combined for the rest of the Sun Devil offence with 527 kills. Ricedorff also added 13 aces and 44 blocks, while Bailey added 17 aces and 98 blocks. In her first year with the Sun Devils, Mazon saw action in 24 matches to boost the ASU defense.
ON THE NEWCOMERS
The Sun Devils welcome six newcomers to the roster in 2015, freshmen Kierstin Fowler (Flagstaff, Ariz./Coconino HS), Kylie Pickrell (Coppell, Texas/Coppell HS), Jasmine Koonts (Houston, Texas/Klein HS), Lexi MacLean (Frisco, Texas/Centennial HS), and Tia Philippart (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS), and junior transfer Cassidy Pickrell (Coppell, Texas/Coppell HS/UC Irvine).
ASU looks to add depth in the middle with the additions of Fowler, Koonts, and Philippart. On the outside, ASU adds MacLean and Cassidy Pickrell, a transfer from UC Irvine, while her younger sister Kylie Pickrell joins the Sun Devils as a setter.
ON HOME MATCH ATTENDANCE
In 2014, Arizona State hosted three of the top-10 highest-attended matches in the Coach Watson era, including a record crowd of 4,185 against Washington on Oct. 17. That match also featured a student-section record of 1,235 attendees.
The Sun Devils also hosted two more matches with crowds of more than 3,000: against Oregon State on Nov. 13 (3,667), and against Arizona on Nov. 28 (3,287).
In the last seven seasons of Watson’s tenure at ASU, the Sun Devils have recorded five matches with crowds over 3,000.
2015 All-Tournament Team Selections
Falcon Classic
MVP - Whitney Follette
All-Tournament Team - Kizzy Ricedorff (Willey)
All-Tournament Setter - Kylie Pickrell
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