TEMPE, Ariz. – Despite a tough fight and strong individual performances, Arizona State volleyball fell short against No. 25 UCLA in four sets (18-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-23) in Wells Fargo Arena on Friday night.
"Tough one tonight," Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "I think the girls fought better than the last couple of matches that we have played. were some things that didn't go our way we still have to work on. I think the energy was there, the fight was there. We actually won some long rallies, unlike the last couple matches so there is something positive going on and something to build off of for Sunday."
Arizona State (13-16, 4-13 Pac-12) struggled at the net, getting out-blocked 16 to 6. However, ASU had five aces to UCLA's (13-11, 8-9 Pac-12) four. The Bruins won both matches against the Sun Devils this season.
Tonight was the fifth match in a row with double-digit kills for Alyse Ford after she had a match-high 23 against the Bruins, her third match this season with 20 or more kills. Courtney Leffel started another streak of consecutive matches with double-digit digs, collecting 21 tonight for her second in a row. It was also her eighth match with 20-plus digs this year. Callie Jones and Nicole Peterson both notched double-doubles tonight. Jones had 26 assists and 10 digs while Peterson had 16 digs and 14 assists.
The Sun Devils came out with something to prove, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. A 5-1 run pushed the ASU lead to 14-5, a run that saw kills from three different Sun Devils. The Bruins got within five after a 5-1 run of their own, but Ford killed the ball to push the advantage back to 16-10. Arizona State did not let up, taking the first set 25-18 after Ford's sixth kill of the night.
Tough serving from Peterson created separation in the second set, an ace putting ASU up 8-5. However, four points in a row from UCLA gave the visitors the one-point lead. Another ace, this time from Jones, put the Sun Devils back on top, 11-10, and the teams traded points from there. Three-straight for UCLA put ASU down again, but back-to-back kills from Ivana Jeremic and Megan Beedie tied it at 18-18. The Bruins pulled away at the end, winning the set 25-22 and tying the match at 1-1.
UCLA took control of the third set after pulling away with a 4-1 run to go up 14-10, forcing ASU's first timeout. A kill from Carmen Unzue got the Sun Devils within three before the Bruins went on another 4-1 run to extend the lead to 18-12. ASU strung together four-straight points, capped off with a joust win by Peyton Grahovac, to get within two, 18-16. Ultimately, the Bruins pulled away again, earning the 25-18 win.
Arizona State led by as much as four in the fourth set, getting up 12-8 after three-straight points, two of which were kills from Ford. After closing the gap, a 3-0 run from the Bruins gave them the 16-15 lead. From that point on, the Sun Devils were fighting from behind. They fought off two match points, but UCLA was able to close it out, winning 25-23.
"There are still a lot of lessons to still be learned," Tomasevic said. "We talked about pride a lot: self-pride, school pride, team pride and we challenge our seniors. As a senior, you always want to leave the place you played in better shape before you came in. That is something that Alyse is trying to leave this place in a better place when she got here so she can look back five years down the road, and say, 'Hey they learned that from me.' The easy thing would be to just roll over and be done. I don't think these girls are going to do that after the way they came out tonight. The way they reacted postgame, I think there is a lot more in them and they are going to come out fighting on Sunday."
Up next, Arizona State will host No. 14 USC on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. MST. The match will be live on the Pac-12 Network.
"Tough one tonight," Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "I think the girls fought better than the last couple of matches that we have played. were some things that didn't go our way we still have to work on. I think the energy was there, the fight was there. We actually won some long rallies, unlike the last couple matches so there is something positive going on and something to build off of for Sunday."
Arizona State (13-16, 4-13 Pac-12) struggled at the net, getting out-blocked 16 to 6. However, ASU had five aces to UCLA's (13-11, 8-9 Pac-12) four. The Bruins won both matches against the Sun Devils this season.
Tonight was the fifth match in a row with double-digit kills for Alyse Ford after she had a match-high 23 against the Bruins, her third match this season with 20 or more kills. Courtney Leffel started another streak of consecutive matches with double-digit digs, collecting 21 tonight for her second in a row. It was also her eighth match with 20-plus digs this year. Callie Jones and Nicole Peterson both notched double-doubles tonight. Jones had 26 assists and 10 digs while Peterson had 16 digs and 14 assists.
The Sun Devils came out with something to prove, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. A 5-1 run pushed the ASU lead to 14-5, a run that saw kills from three different Sun Devils. The Bruins got within five after a 5-1 run of their own, but Ford killed the ball to push the advantage back to 16-10. Arizona State did not let up, taking the first set 25-18 after Ford's sixth kill of the night.
Tough serving from Peterson created separation in the second set, an ace putting ASU up 8-5. However, four points in a row from UCLA gave the visitors the one-point lead. Another ace, this time from Jones, put the Sun Devils back on top, 11-10, and the teams traded points from there. Three-straight for UCLA put ASU down again, but back-to-back kills from Ivana Jeremic and Megan Beedie tied it at 18-18. The Bruins pulled away at the end, winning the set 25-22 and tying the match at 1-1.
UCLA took control of the third set after pulling away with a 4-1 run to go up 14-10, forcing ASU's first timeout. A kill from Carmen Unzue got the Sun Devils within three before the Bruins went on another 4-1 run to extend the lead to 18-12. ASU strung together four-straight points, capped off with a joust win by Peyton Grahovac, to get within two, 18-16. Ultimately, the Bruins pulled away again, earning the 25-18 win.
Arizona State led by as much as four in the fourth set, getting up 12-8 after three-straight points, two of which were kills from Ford. After closing the gap, a 3-0 run from the Bruins gave them the 16-15 lead. From that point on, the Sun Devils were fighting from behind. They fought off two match points, but UCLA was able to close it out, winning 25-23.
"There are still a lot of lessons to still be learned," Tomasevic said. "We talked about pride a lot: self-pride, school pride, team pride and we challenge our seniors. As a senior, you always want to leave the place you played in better shape before you came in. That is something that Alyse is trying to leave this place in a better place when she got here so she can look back five years down the road, and say, 'Hey they learned that from me.' The easy thing would be to just roll over and be done. I don't think these girls are going to do that after the way they came out tonight. The way they reacted postgame, I think there is a lot more in them and they are going to come out fighting on Sunday."
Up next, Arizona State will host No. 14 USC on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. MST. The match will be live on the Pac-12 Network.