TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State volleyball gave No. 2 Stanford a battle, but the Cardinal proved to be too much to handle as the Sun Devils fell in straight sets (25-23, 25-14, 26-24) at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday night.
"I think we fought," Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "We played a tight game against the best team in the country in my opinion. They are playing pretty clean volleyball on the other side and it's hard to play against that when you know they're not going to give you many points. I'm proud of the way we competed."
Arizona State (14-17, 5-14 Pac-12) fared about as well as the rest of the Pac-12 as Stanford (27-1, 19-0 Pac-12) remains undefeated in conference play with one match to go. The Cardinal loomed over the net all night, collecting 11.5 total blocks to the Sun Devils' 4.0.
Reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Alyse Ford had 17 kills tonight to lead all players, extending her double-digit kills streak to seven matches. Courtney Leffel also added to her streak of consecutive matches with double-digit digs by notching 11 tonight to make it four in a row. Callie Jones served the only two aces of the night to go along with her 17 assists.
Arizona State jumped out to a big lead against Stanford in the first set. Back-to-back aces from Jones made it 7-2 in favor of the Sun Devils. They led by as much as six, 11-5, after Megan Beedie slammed down an overpass. Despite the large disadvantage, Stanford started to climb back into it, eventually taking the lead at 18-17. When the Cardinal was up by three at 23-20, the Sun Devils scored three straight, two of which were kills from Claire Kovensky, to tie it up. Stanford closed the door, however, scoring two in a row to win 25-23.
The Cardinal held onto the momentum for the second set. A block from Beedie got the Sun Devils within one, down 10-9, but a 7-0 Stanford run to make it 19-11 made the set out of reach for Arizona State. The visitors took the set 25-14 and the 2-0 match lead.
The third set was close from start to finish. Neither team was able to score more than two in a row until ASU allowed four straight points from Stanford, going down 19-15. The Sun Devils responded by going on a 5-1 run to tie it at 24-24 after Ford's 17th kill, but the Cardinal did not relinquish the lead, winning the set 26-25 and completing the sweep.
Arizona State's regular season and home finale will be on Saturday at 7 p.m MST against in-state rival No. 23 Arizona in a Territorial Cup matchup.
"I think we fought," Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. "We played a tight game against the best team in the country in my opinion. They are playing pretty clean volleyball on the other side and it's hard to play against that when you know they're not going to give you many points. I'm proud of the way we competed."
Arizona State (14-17, 5-14 Pac-12) fared about as well as the rest of the Pac-12 as Stanford (27-1, 19-0 Pac-12) remains undefeated in conference play with one match to go. The Cardinal loomed over the net all night, collecting 11.5 total blocks to the Sun Devils' 4.0.
Reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Alyse Ford had 17 kills tonight to lead all players, extending her double-digit kills streak to seven matches. Courtney Leffel also added to her streak of consecutive matches with double-digit digs by notching 11 tonight to make it four in a row. Callie Jones served the only two aces of the night to go along with her 17 assists.
Arizona State jumped out to a big lead against Stanford in the first set. Back-to-back aces from Jones made it 7-2 in favor of the Sun Devils. They led by as much as six, 11-5, after Megan Beedie slammed down an overpass. Despite the large disadvantage, Stanford started to climb back into it, eventually taking the lead at 18-17. When the Cardinal was up by three at 23-20, the Sun Devils scored three straight, two of which were kills from Claire Kovensky, to tie it up. Stanford closed the door, however, scoring two in a row to win 25-23.
The Cardinal held onto the momentum for the second set. A block from Beedie got the Sun Devils within one, down 10-9, but a 7-0 Stanford run to make it 19-11 made the set out of reach for Arizona State. The visitors took the set 25-14 and the 2-0 match lead.
The third set was close from start to finish. Neither team was able to score more than two in a row until ASU allowed four straight points from Stanford, going down 19-15. The Sun Devils responded by going on a 5-1 run to tie it at 24-24 after Ford's 17th kill, but the Cardinal did not relinquish the lead, winning the set 26-25 and completing the sweep.
Arizona State's regular season and home finale will be on Saturday at 7 p.m MST against in-state rival No. 23 Arizona in a Territorial Cup matchup.