ALBUQUERQUE—The Arizona State volleyball team (1-0) opened the Stevie Mussie era with a sweep of Fairfield (0-2), 25-19, 25-15, 29-27 on Friday afternoon at the UNM Tournament at the Johnson Center.
The Sun Devils will be back in action Friday evening at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT against tournament-host New Mexico. Both a live stream and live stats will be available.
"The morning match against Fairfield was a good all-around team effort," Mussie said. "When your libero has 17 digs is a three-set match, that is exactly where you want to be. Our middles hit with great range, like Oly Okaro hitting .682, and then you have Ivana (Jeremic) who was kind of a star of the match as well, hitting .400 on 20 swings."
In the first win in Mussie's head coaching tenure, junior Oluoma Okaro led the way with a career high 16 kills on .682 attacking, while she, senior Maya McClendon (15 kills), and freshman Ivana Jeremic (10 kills) combined for 41 of ASU's 52 kills.
"Overall I thought everybody did a great job," Mussie said. "When you have a left-side attacker hit .364, it's a good all-around team effort, and I was fired up for them to get that win. They settled down and were even able to fight through some adversity at the end of that third set."
ASU held the Stags to .211 hitting for the match, including a low of .122 during the second set. ASU hit .339 for the match, including .366 in the second set and .390 in the third.
For Fairfield, Skyler Day led the way with 16 kills, while Sydney Buckley and Manuela Nicolini combined for 36 assists.
Match Notes
Head Coach Stevie Mussie's first career head coaching victory
Kills: Okaro (16)*, McClendon (15), Jeremic (10)
*Career high
Attack Pct: Okaro (.682: 16K, 1E, 22TA), Jeremic (.400; 10K, 2E, 20TA), McClendon (.364; 15K, 3E, 33TA)
Assists: K. Pickrell (41)*
*Career high
Digs: Harker (17), C. Pickrell (12), Johnson (10)
Blocks: Okaro (5BA), K. Pickrell (4BA)*
*Career high
The Sun Devils will be back in action Friday evening at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT against tournament-host New Mexico. Both a live stream and live stats will be available.
"The morning match against Fairfield was a good all-around team effort," Mussie said. "When your libero has 17 digs is a three-set match, that is exactly where you want to be. Our middles hit with great range, like Oly Okaro hitting .682, and then you have Ivana (Jeremic) who was kind of a star of the match as well, hitting .400 on 20 swings."
In the first win in Mussie's head coaching tenure, junior Oluoma Okaro led the way with a career high 16 kills on .682 attacking, while she, senior Maya McClendon (15 kills), and freshman Ivana Jeremic (10 kills) combined for 41 of ASU's 52 kills.
"Overall I thought everybody did a great job," Mussie said. "When you have a left-side attacker hit .364, it's a good all-around team effort, and I was fired up for them to get that win. They settled down and were even able to fight through some adversity at the end of that third set."
ASU held the Stags to .211 hitting for the match, including a low of .122 during the second set. ASU hit .339 for the match, including .366 in the second set and .390 in the third.
For Fairfield, Skyler Day led the way with 16 kills, while Sydney Buckley and Manuela Nicolini combined for 36 assists.
Match Notes
Head Coach Stevie Mussie's first career head coaching victory
Kills: Okaro (16)*, McClendon (15), Jeremic (10)
*Career high
Attack Pct: Okaro (.682: 16K, 1E, 22TA), Jeremic (.400; 10K, 2E, 20TA), McClendon (.364; 15K, 3E, 33TA)
Assists: K. Pickrell (41)*
*Career high
Digs: Harker (17), C. Pickrell (12), Johnson (10)
Blocks: Okaro (5BA), K. Pickrell (4BA)*
*Career high