TEMPE, Ariz. – Alyse Ford had a career night with 29 kills and 15 digs, but Arizona State women's volleyball was unable to snap its losing streak, falling to Colorado in four sets (21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-20) on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
"We didn't play well," Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "We made about 43 mistakes, we gave up 43 points. That's two sets right there with our errors. When you play like that, the momentum is just hard to get into. Rhythm is always hard to get into because errors are what's controlling you. The other team doesn't have to do much because they're going to get their points from you."
Arizona State (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12) has now lost four matches in a row and five of the last six. For Colorado (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12), this is the third win in a row against ASU. The Buffaloes out-blocked the Sun Devils 13.0 to 5.0 in the match.
Ford notched career numbers in the match. Her 29 kills surpassed her previous career high of 19. She is now in a three-way tie for fourth for kills in a single match in the rally-scoring era. Current assistant coach Macey Gardner had 29 kills twice, once in 2014 and once in 2013.
Ford found success in other areas of the match as well. Her 15 digs were a season high, her first time in double digits in that category as a Sun Devil. Additionally, this was Ford's first double-double at Arizona State and fourth career double-double. It was her first since the 2016 season at USC when she had three (the last at Oregon State on October 16). She also had an ace in the match, her third of the year.
Junior Nicole Peterson was two assists shy of her career high, collecting 54 in the loss. She also had 17 digs to earn her seventh double-double of the season. Courtney Leffel had 16 digs for her sixth-straight game with double-digit digs.
From the start, Ford came out swinging. Four of ASU's first seven points were kills from Ford, one coming from the back row to push the lead to 7-5. Colorado responded with three points in a row to move ahead, but a service error tied it at 8-8. From there, the teams traded points until an ace from Ford put the Sun Devils up by two, 17-15. Down the stretch, Arizona State went on a 4-1 run to take the set, appropriately ending with a cross-court kill from Ford.
The Sun Devils held onto the momentum to start the second set, scoring five in a row, two of which were kills from Claire Kovensky. That run put them up 8-2. Arizona State led by as many seven before Colorado went on an 11-2 run to take the lead, 19-17. Ford got in another kill, but the Buffaloes would close out the set, 25-21.
The third set was close from start to finish. The Sun Devils trailed until a hitting error by the Buffaloes gave the home team the 7-6 lead. Notching her career high in kills, Ford tipped the ball to put her team up 11-10. After trading points, Colorado went on a 4-1 run to go up 22-20. Timely blocking powered the Buffaloes down the stretch to take it 25-22, going up 2-1 in the match.
Ivana Jeremic started the fourth set with a kill through to block. From there, it was another tight contest until Colorado strung together three in a row to go up 10-8. ASU played from behind until an ace from Peterson tied it up at 16-16. A 3-0 run from the Buffaloes put the Sun Devils down 21-18, forcing a timeout. ASU was unable to find a way to stop Colorado, losing the set 25-20 and the match 3-1. The Buffaloes hit .500 in the fourth set.
Arizona State continues its home stand with matches next weekend against Oregon and Oregon State on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
"We didn't play well," Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "We made about 43 mistakes, we gave up 43 points. That's two sets right there with our errors. When you play like that, the momentum is just hard to get into. Rhythm is always hard to get into because errors are what's controlling you. The other team doesn't have to do much because they're going to get their points from you."
Arizona State (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12) has now lost four matches in a row and five of the last six. For Colorado (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12), this is the third win in a row against ASU. The Buffaloes out-blocked the Sun Devils 13.0 to 5.0 in the match.
Ford notched career numbers in the match. Her 29 kills surpassed her previous career high of 19. She is now in a three-way tie for fourth for kills in a single match in the rally-scoring era. Current assistant coach Macey Gardner had 29 kills twice, once in 2014 and once in 2013.
Ford found success in other areas of the match as well. Her 15 digs were a season high, her first time in double digits in that category as a Sun Devil. Additionally, this was Ford's first double-double at Arizona State and fourth career double-double. It was her first since the 2016 season at USC when she had three (the last at Oregon State on October 16). She also had an ace in the match, her third of the year.
Junior Nicole Peterson was two assists shy of her career high, collecting 54 in the loss. She also had 17 digs to earn her seventh double-double of the season. Courtney Leffel had 16 digs for her sixth-straight game with double-digit digs.
From the start, Ford came out swinging. Four of ASU's first seven points were kills from Ford, one coming from the back row to push the lead to 7-5. Colorado responded with three points in a row to move ahead, but a service error tied it at 8-8. From there, the teams traded points until an ace from Ford put the Sun Devils up by two, 17-15. Down the stretch, Arizona State went on a 4-1 run to take the set, appropriately ending with a cross-court kill from Ford.
The Sun Devils held onto the momentum to start the second set, scoring five in a row, two of which were kills from Claire Kovensky. That run put them up 8-2. Arizona State led by as many seven before Colorado went on an 11-2 run to take the lead, 19-17. Ford got in another kill, but the Buffaloes would close out the set, 25-21.
The third set was close from start to finish. The Sun Devils trailed until a hitting error by the Buffaloes gave the home team the 7-6 lead. Notching her career high in kills, Ford tipped the ball to put her team up 11-10. After trading points, Colorado went on a 4-1 run to go up 22-20. Timely blocking powered the Buffaloes down the stretch to take it 25-22, going up 2-1 in the match.
Ivana Jeremic started the fourth set with a kill through to block. From there, it was another tight contest until Colorado strung together three in a row to go up 10-8. ASU played from behind until an ace from Peterson tied it up at 16-16. A 3-0 run from the Buffaloes put the Sun Devils down 21-18, forcing a timeout. ASU was unable to find a way to stop Colorado, losing the set 25-20 and the match 3-1. The Buffaloes hit .500 in the fourth set.
Arizona State continues its home stand with matches next weekend against Oregon and Oregon State on Friday and Sunday, respectively.