TEMPE, Ariz.—The No. 10 Arizona State volleyball team continues its stretch of nine-straight home matches on Sunday, welcoming Gonzaga to Wells Fargo Arena at 2 p.m. PT.
The contest against the Bulldogs will be live streamed via TheSunDevils.com, and updates throughout the match will be available via Twitter by following @SunDevilVB.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS (Sept. 13, 2 P.M. PT)
Gonzaga (4-2) went 2-1 in its own invitational over the weekend, sweeping Wyoming and Montana before falling in five sets to Utah.
In the five-set loss, Savannah Blinn led the Bulldogs with 24 kills, while McKayla Ferris added 16. Imani Wimbush tallied six blocks, while Kayliee Loewen and Lauren Joseph added four each.
ASU leads Gonzaga in the all-time series, 3-0. The last time the two teams met was in 2013, the Sun Devils picking up the 3-0 sweep. In the win, Macey Gardner picked up 20 kills, while Mercedes Binns led ASU with seven blocks.
Prior to Sunday’s match, the Bulldogs will play three matches at the GCU Invite in Phoenix on Sept. 11 and 12.
ASU SEEKING FIRST 8-0 START UNDER WATSON
The Sun Devils have picked up 7-0 starts twice under head coach Jason Watson, first in 2013 and through the first seven matches of the 2015 season.
The last time ASU recorded an 8-0 start was in 1992 under Patti Snyder-Park. ASU also went 8-0 in 1981 while competing in the WCAA under Dale Flickinger.
Best Starts In ASU History
1973: 21-0 (Mary Littlewood, Intermountain Conference)
1976: 11-0 (Mary LIttlewood, Intermountain Conference)
1985: 9-0 (Debbie Brown, Pacific West Conference)
1981: 8-0 (Dale Flickinger, WCAA)
1992: 8-0 (Patti Snyder-Park, Pac-10 Conference)
6x at 7-0 (1x Debbie Brown (1988), 3x Patti Snyder-Park (1993, 1995, 1997), 2x Jason Watson (2013, 2015)
LAST TIME OUT
ASU defeated Northern Arizona in four sets in their home opener, led by Macey Gardner and Whitney Follette’s 11 kills apiece, while Bree Bailey anchored the Sun Devils at the net with 10 total blocks, including a career best four solo blocks.
In the win, Bianca Arellano notched her fourth double-double in as many matches with 19 assists and 15 digs, while Gardner posted her second with 15 digs along with her 11 kills.
For the Lumberjacks, Janae Vander Ploeg recorded 17 kills and 13 digs, while Lauren Jacobsen, sister of ASU Basketball’s Eric Jacobsen, added 10 kills and 10 digs.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils remain at home next week, hosting UNLV, Texas Southern, and Illinois in the Red Lion Invitational, Sept. 18-19, at Wells Fargo Arena. ASU will take on UNLV on Friday at Noon PT, while Saturday, the Sun Devils will start off the day against Texas Southern at Noon PT before taking on Illinois at 7 p.m. PT in a rematch of the 2013 contest in Champaign, Ill.
All six matches in the tournament will be live streamed via TheSunDevils.com.
ASU LEADS NATION IN BLOCKING
The Sun Devils currently lead the nation in both blocks and blocks per set with marks of 88.0 and 3.76, respectively.
Individually, Whitney Follette leads the Pac-12 and is eighth nationally with 1.67 blocks per set, while her mark of 40 individual blocks is ranked 2nd in the conference and fifth in the nation.
Mercedes Binns’ 1.62 blocks per set is third highest in the Pac-12 and 11th in the nation, while Bree Bailey’s total of 35 blocks is also third in the conference and 18th in the nation.
MORE NOTES ON THE UPSET OVER COLORADO STATE
Prior to ASU’s 3-0 win over then-No. 9 Colorado State on Sept. 4, the Rams were 59-5 at home dating back to the 2011 season.
Since 1997, Tom Hilbert’s first season in Fort Collins, CSU was 259-30 (.896). The Rams are now 259-31 (.893).
ASU IN THE AVCA POLL
After upsetting then-No. 9 Colorado State, 3-0, and also picking up sweeps of Western Michigan and Northern Colorado as part of the CSU/UNC Tournament last week, the Sun Devils moved up five spots in the AVCA Volleyball Poll to No. 10.
This marks ASU’s highest ranking since the week of Dec. 5, 1995. The highest-ever ranking the Sun Devils have achieved in the AVCA Poll was No. 7, which last happened in the poll released on Sept. 30, 1986.
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 125 to tie that mark.
In the first two weekends of 2015, Gardner amassed 69 kills, bringing her career total to 1,746, third-most in program history.
She is 54 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 (1,746)
4. Tammy Webb, 1983-86 (1,679)
ON THE 1000+ CAREER DIGS LIST
Along with being poised to set a new school record for kills, Macey Gardner became the 17th Sun Devil to surpass the mark of 1,000 career digs when she recorded her eighth of 15 total against Northern Arizona on Tuesday, Sept. 8
Gardner currently has 1,007 digs, all time.
The last Sun Devil to enter the 1,000+ career digs list was libero Stephanie Preach, who totaled 2,010 from 2010-13, second-most all time at ASU.
1,000+ CAREER KILLS & DIGS
Against Northern Arizona (Sept. 8), Macey Gardner became the 10th Sun Devil to record more than 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their career.
The last Sun Devil to move onto the list was Margie Giordano (2005-08), with1,312 career kills and 1,218 career digs.
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 35 blocks in the first two weekends of competition, bringing her career total for block assists to 286, No. 6 all-time at ASU. Her total of 343 total blocks also sits at No. 6 all-time at ASU.
Arellano has amassed 2,620 assists in her Sun Devil career, placing her at No. 8 all-time.
ON THE NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
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
The most successful University athletics programs have a committed community behind them. Help affect change for Sun Devil volleyball and beach volleyball by making a donation to their program and Embrace Success.
Make a donation here.