TEMPE, Ariz. – Despite multiple Sun Devils earning season-highs, Arizona State volleyball dropped the match to No. 20 Cal in five sets (18-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-27, 15-12) in Desert Financial Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Notable Stats
Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic
"I think this was a match that could have potentially determined our outcome of whether we are going to the NCAA Tournament. When they scored 79 points and we scored 76 points, you're talking about a three point difference against a top-20 team - anything was possible. I just feel sorry for our girls because this was a great opportunity for us to potentially secure the NCAA Tournament today."
On the future of making the NCAA Tournament
"I don't think it's too late by any means. We still have a chance, we still have a lot of top-20 teams to play. It's going to be tough, it's going to be a lot of pressure in practice and in games. But to me, that's why you sign up to be an athlete. You sign up for pressure when you sign up to play in the Pac-12."
Junior middle blocker Megan Beedie
On coming back against the loss from Stanford
"We definitely had a long meeting about what we need to fix, and going into practice, we're all ready to hold each other accountable and actually work on those things. The goal is clear. We want to make it to the tournament. So if someone's not doing what they need to in practice, we're going to say something and we're going to change it."
Senior setter Callie Jones
On playing together as a team going forward
"I think we just have to continue to play for each other rather than letting our egos get in the way. I think we're getting better but we still need to learn how to put it all out there for each other and clean up what we do. I think we have a great chance of getting three wins out of these next six. I still have faith we can do it."
Set One: Arizona State, 25, Cal 18
The Sun Devils established their first-set dominance right out of the gate, holding the lead throughout the entire set and leading by double the Bears' score at two instances to finish the set at 25-18. Beedie and Claire Kovensky led the charge with five kills each as part of ASU's 19 kills in the set. Beedie and Jaloba boasted an impressive 1.000 hitting percentage in that frame as Leffel made a set-high nine digs.
Set Two: Arizona State 18, Cal 25
To start the second set, the lead went back-and-forth with big blocks by both teams to keep the score within at least two points. The Bears took the lead for the first time in the match at 7-6 and continued to extend the lead throughout the set. Down 10 points, the Sun Devils resurged and decreased the point deficit by four, yet the Bears eventually claimed the set 25-18. Mitrovic drilled a set-high seven kills.
Set Three: Arizona State 20, Cal 25
Cal opened strong to take the lead 7-4 early in the set. Bears hitting errors and a kill from Kovensky allowed the Sun Devils to close in on the Bears' lead. Long volleys ensued with most ending in Cal's favor to put them up 15-11 at the first timeout. A block by Kovensky followed by a Mitrovic kill attempted to counteract the Bears' scoring streak. Jada Burse got in on the kill action to start a 4-0 run to push the score to 20-24 at the Bears' game point. However, Cal was able to close it out, winning 25-20.
Set Four: Arizona State 27, Cal 25
Kills from Mitrovic gave the Sun Devils an early 6-2 lead. The Sun Devils went on a 4-1 scoring run, extending ASU's lead to 10-3. A couple of Cal kills and an ASU error allowed the Bears to close the gap at 15-11. After two kills from Danica Krstonosic reinstated ASU's 21-17 lead, Cal answered with a three-point run to put the set within a point at 21-20 in favor of the Sun Devils. As back-and-forth play continued, a Cal serving error and a tip from Beedie initiated a 3-0 scoring run for ASU. The Bears forced a tie at 24-24, holding off three set points for the Sun Devils. A hit by Beedie allowed ASU the lead 25-24 and the teams went on to extra points. A setting error by Cal sent the match to a fifth set as ASU won 27-25.
Set 5: Arizona State 12, Cal 15
ASU carried the momentum from set four, opening with back-to-back kills by Burse to lead 4-2. The set tied twice before Cal took their first lead at 7-6. Two ASU errors extended Cal's lead 10-7. Both teams took turns scoring, but Cal held onto its two-point lead. After a long volley at Cal game point, Mitrovic nailed a kill at center court to bring the score to 14-12. A serving error gave Cal the point needed to win the set, 15-12, clinching the match win.
Up next
Arizona State travels to the Pacific Northwest to play Oregon State (9-16, 3-11 Pac-12) on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m. MST and Oregon (7-15, 3-10 Pac-12) on Sunday, November 17 at 2 p.m. MST.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (13-12, 5-9 Pac-12) lost to 3-2 to California (20-4, 10-4 Pac-12). The Bears swept the season series after beating the Sun Devils earlier this season.
- Arizona State is now 4-3 in five-set matches, 2-2 in five-set matches in conference play.
- With 23 digs in today's match, senior libero Courtney Leffel reached 1,400 career digs, moving into seventh place in the ASU record books after passing Terri Cox (1,382). After last Thursday's match, she had passed Mindy Gowell (1,365) for eighth place.
- This was Leffel's 12th match of the year with 20 or more digs.
- Sophomore middle blocker Avital Jaloba reached a career high in kills with seven, hitting .545 in the setback. She also tallied four block assists.
- Junior Megan Beedie hit at a .476 percentage and tied a career-high with 13 kills against Cal, also a season-high. She had a team-high five blocks.
- Junior outside hitter Andrea Mitrovic put down a match-high 20 kills with a .395 hitting percentage. This was her second match of the year with 20 or more kills, the other coming against Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the second match of the season.
- Senior outside hitter Ivana Jeremic tied her season high in digs with 17. She also had five kills and three blocks.
- Setters Noa Miller and Callie Jones each had 28 assists, which was a season-high for Miller. Miller notched 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Jones had seven digs and two aces, the lone aces for ASU today.
- Redshirt sophomore Danica Krstonosic had season-highs in kills with five and in blocks with three.
QuotesS1 | Courtney "Pancake Queen" Leffel. ??
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 10, 2019
We are leading 16-9! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/d5QlvT78kg
Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic
"I think this was a match that could have potentially determined our outcome of whether we are going to the NCAA Tournament. When they scored 79 points and we scored 76 points, you're talking about a three point difference against a top-20 team - anything was possible. I just feel sorry for our girls because this was a great opportunity for us to potentially secure the NCAA Tournament today."
On the future of making the NCAA Tournament
"I don't think it's too late by any means. We still have a chance, we still have a lot of top-20 teams to play. It's going to be tough, it's going to be a lot of pressure in practice and in games. But to me, that's why you sign up to be an athlete. You sign up for pressure when you sign up to play in the Pac-12."
Junior middle blocker Megan Beedie
On coming back against the loss from Stanford
"We definitely had a long meeting about what we need to fix, and going into practice, we're all ready to hold each other accountable and actually work on those things. The goal is clear. We want to make it to the tournament. So if someone's not doing what they need to in practice, we're going to say something and we're going to change it."
Senior setter Callie Jones
On playing together as a team going forward
"I think we just have to continue to play for each other rather than letting our egos get in the way. I think we're getting better but we still need to learn how to put it all out there for each other and clean up what we do. I think we have a great chance of getting three wins out of these next six. I still have faith we can do it."
Set One: Arizona State, 25, Cal 18
The Sun Devils established their first-set dominance right out of the gate, holding the lead throughout the entire set and leading by double the Bears' score at two instances to finish the set at 25-18. Beedie and Claire Kovensky led the charge with five kills each as part of ASU's 19 kills in the set. Beedie and Jaloba boasted an impressive 1.000 hitting percentage in that frame as Leffel made a set-high nine digs.
Set Two: Arizona State 18, Cal 25
To start the second set, the lead went back-and-forth with big blocks by both teams to keep the score within at least two points. The Bears took the lead for the first time in the match at 7-6 and continued to extend the lead throughout the set. Down 10 points, the Sun Devils resurged and decreased the point deficit by four, yet the Bears eventually claimed the set 25-18. Mitrovic drilled a set-high seven kills.
S3 | Callie Jones serves up an ace!!
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 10, 2019
We are down by just one, 11-10! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/YymKrBNqL6
Set Three: Arizona State 20, Cal 25
Cal opened strong to take the lead 7-4 early in the set. Bears hitting errors and a kill from Kovensky allowed the Sun Devils to close in on the Bears' lead. Long volleys ensued with most ending in Cal's favor to put them up 15-11 at the first timeout. A block by Kovensky followed by a Mitrovic kill attempted to counteract the Bears' scoring streak. Jada Burse got in on the kill action to start a 4-0 run to push the score to 20-24 at the Bears' game point. However, Cal was able to close it out, winning 25-20.
Set Four: Arizona State 27, Cal 25
Kills from Mitrovic gave the Sun Devils an early 6-2 lead. The Sun Devils went on a 4-1 scoring run, extending ASU's lead to 10-3. A couple of Cal kills and an ASU error allowed the Bears to close the gap at 15-11. After two kills from Danica Krstonosic reinstated ASU's 21-17 lead, Cal answered with a three-point run to put the set within a point at 21-20 in favor of the Sun Devils. As back-and-forth play continued, a Cal serving error and a tip from Beedie initiated a 3-0 scoring run for ASU. The Bears forced a tie at 24-24, holding off three set points for the Sun Devils. A hit by Beedie allowed ASU the lead 25-24 and the teams went on to extra points. A setting error by Cal sent the match to a fifth set as ASU won 27-25.
S4 | LET'S PLAY FIVE!
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 10, 2019
ASU wins the fourth set 27-25!! We are going to five against No. 20 Cal! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/sKq4qgnxTa
Set 5: Arizona State 12, Cal 15
ASU carried the momentum from set four, opening with back-to-back kills by Burse to lead 4-2. The set tied twice before Cal took their first lead at 7-6. Two ASU errors extended Cal's lead 10-7. Both teams took turns scoring, but Cal held onto its two-point lead. After a long volley at Cal game point, Mitrovic nailed a kill at center court to bring the score to 14-12. A serving error gave Cal the point needed to win the set, 15-12, clinching the match win.
Up next
Arizona State travels to the Pacific Northwest to play Oregon State (9-16, 3-11 Pac-12) on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m. MST and Oregon (7-15, 3-10 Pac-12) on Sunday, November 17 at 2 p.m. MST.