TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 6 Arizona State remained undefeated and moved to 15-0 this season on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena, defeating the visiting California Golden Bears (6-9, 0-4 Pac-12) in three sets (25-17, 25-19, 25-19).
Senior Macey Gardner led the way for the Sun Devils with 14 kills and nine digs, but it was her 13th kill of the match that drew the loudest cheers from the crowd. That 13th kill gave Gardner 1,872 for her career, a new ASU record, surpassing Christine Gardner’s mark of 1,871, set 20 years ago.
“You don’t come into ASU thinking ‘I’m going to break the kills record’ but it comes down four years later and it’s an opportunity,” Gardner said. “So it’s really cool but I couldn’t do it without my teammates along the way.”
With her 13th kill of the match, @MaceyGardner breaks the 20-year-old ASU kills record with 1,872 career kills! pic.twitter.com/vmdLG1jroG
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) October 4, 2015
“When she got that kill I couldn’t help but just be a fan of Macey’s,” head coach Jason Watson said. “For that moment, I’m not her coach, I’m just a fan. I am just so happy for her that she got to get this record at home in front of her family and friends.”
Three other ASU players finished with at least seven kills. Junior Cassidy Pickrell had 10 kills and five digs, senior Whitney Follette had eight kills on a .545 attack percentage and junior Bree Bailey finished with seven kills and five block assists.
ASU was extremely efficient on offense all match and finished with an attack percentage of .326, while Cal hit only .105. The Sun Devils hit greater than .300 in all three sets (.303, .370, .312) on Sunday.
Lara Vukasovic led the Golden Bears with nine kills, while Jenelle Jordan added eight kills and four solo blocks.
Up next for ASU is a road trip to the state of Washington. The Sun Devils begin with a matchup against No. 5 Washington (13-1, 3-1 Pac-12) on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and end the weekend with a match against Washington State (12-4, 1-3 Pac-12) on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT, which will air on the Pac-12 Networks.
Career Records Of Note
Kills
1. Macey Gardner (2012-present)—1873
2. Christine Garner, 1992-95—1871
Match Notes:
Kills: Gardner (14), C. Pickrell (10)
Top Attack Pct: Follette (.545; 8K, 1E, 11TA), Bailey (.375; 7K, 1E, 16TA), C. Pickrell (.360; 10K, 1E, 25TA), Gardner (.310; 14K, 5E, 29TA)
Assists: Arellano (17), K. Pickrell (15)
Digs: Harker (12)
Top Team Attack By Set: 2nd (.370; 13K, 3E, 27TA), 3rd (.312; 15K, 5E, 32TA), 1st (.303; 14K, 4E, 33TA)
Top Blockers: Follette (5TB, 0BS, 5BA), Bailey (5TB, 0BS, 5BA), Binns (3TB, 1BS, 2BA)
Schedule Note:
-Last time ASU beat Cal and Stanford in same weekend was 1993 (at home, def. Stanford on Oct. 22, 3-0 & def. California on Oct. 23, 3-0).
-Last time ASU swept back-to-back conference weekends: 2004 at Oregon (Oct. 8, 3-1) & at Oregon State (Oct. 9, 3-0) and vs. Washington (Oct. 15, 3-0) and vs. Washington State (Oct. 15, 3-2)
Remaining NCAA DI Undefeated Teams:
Arizona State – 15-0
USC – 16-0
Kansas – 15-0
Best Starts In ASU History
1. 1973: 21-0 (Mary Littlewood, Intermountain Conference)
2. 2015: 15-0 (Jason Watson, Pac-12 Conference)
3. 1976: 11-0 (Mary LIttlewood, Intermountain Conference)
4. 1985: 9-0 (Debbie Brown, Pacific West Conference)
5. 1981: 8-0 (Dale Flickinger, WCAA)
6. 1992: 8-0 (Patti Snyder-Park, Pac-10 Conference)
7. 5x at 7-0 (1x Debbie Brown (1988), 3x Patti Snyder-Park (1993, 1995, 1997), Jason Watson (2013)
ASU’S TOP PAC-10/12 STARTS
2015 - ASU def. Arizona (3-1), Oregon State (3-0), Stanford (3-1), California (3-0)
1986 - ASU def. Oregon (3-2), Oregon State (3-2), USC (3-1)
1989 - ASU def. Oregon (3-1), Oregon State (3-0)
1994 - ASU def. Oregon (3-0), Oregon State (3-2)
1999 - ASU def. Oregon (3-0), Oregon State (3-0)
Top-10 ASU Home Attendance In The Watson Era
1. Arizona (9/24/15)--5,152*
2. Washington(10/17/14)--4,185
3. USC (10/18/13)--3,975
4. Oregon State (11/13/14)--3,667
5. Stanford (10/2/15)--3,464
6. Arizona (11/28/14)--3,287
7. Arizona (10/29/10)--3,017
8. Arizona (9/24/13)--2,293
9. California (10/4/15)--1,943
10. Oregon State (10/19/12)--1,873
*Includes student-section record of 2,011