TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State volleyball shone bright on senior night, taking down No. 22 Washington state in four sets (25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21) behind a balanced offense in front of the home crowd in Desert Financial Arena on Thursday night.
Notable Stats
On tonight's win
"It's pretty exciting. I just told the girls that it's kind of cool that after 2015, this is the first year we will be NCAA eligible and how awesome to do that on a senior night? Especially for these girls who have worked their butts off since their freshmen year to be here - we're proud of them."
On the team improving late in the season
"As a coach, it's an exciting thing that as a team we're getting better. We had nine new players when we started this in the fall and then we were injured a lot and I've said this many times, when we're playing well, we can beat anyone."
On balanced effort on the offensive end
"Yeah we talk a lot about that. We play a 6-2, and at all times we have three hitters in the front and we should be able to not only be a left-side team. We want to set on the right side, set in the middle, and I think our setters did a good job today distributing the ball, especially to Megan."
On going forward in the Pac-12 regular season
"We're not done."
Senior outside hitter Ivana Jeremic
On winning on senior night
"I don't think it's hit me yet. In the end, we won and I'm still thinking about the win. I'm not thinking about that it was on senior night. I think it's me trying to hide it, trying not to think about it because I'm kind of sad and on the other hand, I don't want it to affect my game. But I can tell I was extra motivated and I'm glad we pulled out the win."
"It's really special just because our families are here, especially my mom who got to watch me play for the first time live after four or five years, I believe. So it's a big deal for me and that's why I would say it's really special."
Senior setter Nicole Peterson
On leaving behind a legacy as a senior
"A big thing that we've talked about a lot is that not one person can win a match. We all have to come together, we individually have to bring it and do our jobs. And if we come together, we will win. I think that if we make sure that we can hold each other accountable, at the end of the day, we'll make our goals. So that constant reminder is something that I want to make sure that they always know after we're gone."
Set One: Arizona State 25, Washington State 23
The Sun Devils started the match strong. Kovensky killed the ball after a long rally to put ASU up 5-3. After three straight points to push the lead to 11-6, WSU called a timeout. The Cougars fought back to eventually take the lead after an 11-2 run, up by one at 19-18. From there, the teams traded points until ASU scored three in a row to win the set, 25-23. Burse tooled the block on set point for the win.
Set Two: Arizona State 25, Washington State 20
Similar to the first set, the Sun Devils got up early against the Cougars. This time, however, they kept the lead. A kill from Beedie made it 8-3 in favor of ASU. The home team scored three in a row, capped off by a block from Burse and Beedie, to push their lead to 16-10. Another block, this one from Beedie and Jeremic, sealed the 25-20 win.
Set Three: Washington State 25, Arizona State 19
The third set was all Washington State start to finish. After scoring the first three points, the Cougars never looked back. A kill from Beedie kept ASU close, down 11-8, but the set got away from the Sun Devils. WSU won 25-19.
Set Four: Arizona State 25, Washington State 21
The teams were close until Arizona State broke away with a 5-0 run that saw two solo blocks from Kennedi Boyd. That run put the Sun Devils up 12-7. They followed that up with four-straight points to push the lead to 17-10. Washington State closed the gap to two points at 21-19, but Arizona State scored three in a row to get to match point. An error from the visitors sealed the 25-21 win for ASU.
Up Next
Arizona State will host No. 10 Washington on Sunday at noon MST. Fans can follow along on the ASU Live Stream.
First season sweep against Washington State since 2014. ??#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/0gysoaEgzp
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 22, 2019
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (16-12, 8-9 Pac-12) completed the season sweep against Washington State (22-7, 11-6 Pac-12) for the first time since 2014.
- The Sun Devils earned their second win over a top-25 team this year. The other was also against the Cougars back in Pullman in October.
- With the win, ASU is guaranteed to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2015.
- The five seniors were honored before the match: Jada Burse, Ivana Jeremic, Callie Jones, Courtney Leffel and Nicole Peterson. All five played a key role in tonight's win.
- Three Sun Devils reached double figures in kills: Andrea Mitrovic with 11 and Megan Beedie and Ivana Jeremic with 10 each.
- Senior outside hitter Jeremic also had nine digs and four blocks in the win.
- Senior setters Callie Jones and Nicole Peterson both had double-doubles in the win. Jones had a team-high 24 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Peterson notched her fourth double-double of the season with 19 assists and 10 digs.
- Senior libero Courtney Leffel has earned double-digit digs for the last seven matches in a row with a team-high 19 digs.
- Freshman Kennedi Boyd tied Jeremic for a team-high in blocks with four, two of which were solo blocks, tying a career-high.
- Outside hitters Jada Burse and Claire Kovensky each had eight kills to contribute to the balanced effort.
Arizona State head coach Sanja TomasevicSUN DEVILS WIN??
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 22, 2019
ASU takes down No. 22 Washington State to complete the series sweep over the Cougars!! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/zmO3TGh8u6
On tonight's win
"It's pretty exciting. I just told the girls that it's kind of cool that after 2015, this is the first year we will be NCAA eligible and how awesome to do that on a senior night? Especially for these girls who have worked their butts off since their freshmen year to be here - we're proud of them."
On the team improving late in the season
"As a coach, it's an exciting thing that as a team we're getting better. We had nine new players when we started this in the fall and then we were injured a lot and I've said this many times, when we're playing well, we can beat anyone."
On balanced effort on the offensive end
"Yeah we talk a lot about that. We play a 6-2, and at all times we have three hitters in the front and we should be able to not only be a left-side team. We want to set on the right side, set in the middle, and I think our setters did a good job today distributing the ball, especially to Megan."
On going forward in the Pac-12 regular season
"We're not done."
Senior outside hitter Ivana Jeremic
On winning on senior night
"I don't think it's hit me yet. In the end, we won and I'm still thinking about the win. I'm not thinking about that it was on senior night. I think it's me trying to hide it, trying not to think about it because I'm kind of sad and on the other hand, I don't want it to affect my game. But I can tell I was extra motivated and I'm glad we pulled out the win."
"It's really special just because our families are here, especially my mom who got to watch me play for the first time live after four or five years, I believe. So it's a big deal for me and that's why I would say it's really special."
Senior setter Nicole Peterson
On leaving behind a legacy as a senior
"A big thing that we've talked about a lot is that not one person can win a match. We all have to come together, we individually have to bring it and do our jobs. And if we come together, we will win. I think that if we make sure that we can hold each other accountable, at the end of the day, we'll make our goals. So that constant reminder is something that I want to make sure that they always know after we're gone."
Set One: Arizona State 25, Washington State 23
The Sun Devils started the match strong. Kovensky killed the ball after a long rally to put ASU up 5-3. After three straight points to push the lead to 11-6, WSU called a timeout. The Cougars fought back to eventually take the lead after an 11-2 run, up by one at 19-18. From there, the teams traded points until ASU scored three in a row to win the set, 25-23. Burse tooled the block on set point for the win.
Set Two: Arizona State 25, Washington State 20
Similar to the first set, the Sun Devils got up early against the Cougars. This time, however, they kept the lead. A kill from Beedie made it 8-3 in favor of ASU. The home team scored three in a row, capped off by a block from Burse and Beedie, to push their lead to 16-10. Another block, this one from Beedie and Jeremic, sealed the 25-20 win.
The block gets it done for ASU to win the second set! ??#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/0QEZE3gi2E
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 22, 2019
Set Three: Washington State 25, Arizona State 19
The third set was all Washington State start to finish. After scoring the first three points, the Cougars never looked back. A kill from Beedie kept ASU close, down 11-8, but the set got away from the Sun Devils. WSU won 25-19.
Set Four: Arizona State 25, Washington State 21
The teams were close until Arizona State broke away with a 5-0 run that saw two solo blocks from Kennedi Boyd. That run put the Sun Devils up 12-7. They followed that up with four-straight points to push the lead to 17-10. Washington State closed the gap to two points at 21-19, but Arizona State scored three in a row to get to match point. An error from the visitors sealed the 25-21 win for ASU.
S4 | LOUD NOISES!!!! ??????????
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 22, 2019
We're up 12-7! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/dRSdCxxAED
Up Next
Arizona State will host No. 10 Washington on Sunday at noon MST. Fans can follow along on the ASU Live Stream.