TEMPE, Ariz. – In the final home match of the season, Arizona State volleyball battled but came up short against USC, falling in five sets (25-19, 28-30, 20-25, 25-19, 15-5) at Desert Financial Arena on Wednesday.
Notable Stats
Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic
On tonight's five set loss to USC
"Tough way to end the season at home, obviously not the way we wanted to perform, not the outcome we wanted tonight. It's disappointing, but we have another match on Saturday and hopefully we come back ready to play... We need to work through our weaknesses and do a better job of getting mentally tough. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to make it better… My hope is we continue improving, with this match you can see that we have room to improve. I thought we were doing a lot better and improving as a team as the season goes on.
On the next match against rival Arizona
"Going to play Arizona should be fun. It's the Territorial Cup and it's always fun playing them. It's been a while since we beat them over there and we played really well against them the first time so I'm excited to see how we play. I think they're going to be hungry and ready to show up."
On ASU's potential spot in the NCAA tournament
"Obviously I would be more than happy to play in the NCAA Tournament and I hope they choose us because I think we are ready for it. But right now, we need to focus on Arizona and win that match."
Set One: USC 25, Arizona State 19
The first set saw the Trojans lead from start to finish. They opened with a 4-0 run and never looked back. Another 4-0 run make it 7-2 in favor of the visitors, causing the Sun Devils to call an early timeout. Behind two kills from Burse, ASU battled to score five in a row, closing in on the lead at 17-15. However, USC was able to pull away again, winning 25-19 after a 5-1 at the end of the set. Arizona State allowed eight USC blocks in the opening frame.
Set Two: Arizona State 30, USC 28
The Sun Devils took the lead early, a block from Megan Beedie and Jeremic making it 3-1. The teams battled back and forth until the Trojans went on a huge 8-1 run to go up 17-11. However, the Sun Devils responded with a 5-1 run that saw two ASU blocks to get within two, 18-16. After USC pushed its lead back to four at 22-18, Arizona State scored three-straight points to make it 22-21, forcing a timeout from the visitors. The set required extra points to find a winner. The Sun Devil fought off four match points and an ace from Leffel paired with a kill from Mitrovic got ASU the 30-28 win.
Set Three: Arizona State 25, USC 20
After taking the lead at 2-1, Arizona State did not give up the lead. The teams kept it close until a 4-0 run pushed the Sun Devils' lead to 19-15, capped off by a block by Burse. Jeremic served ASU three more points to make it 22-16. Kovensky came up clutch down the stretch, getting kills to put the Sun Devils at set point and then to win at 25-20.
Set Four: USC 25, Arizona State 19
It was all USC in the fourth set. Eight points in a row for the Trojans made it 8-2. The Sun Devils called their second timeout when they were trailing 15-5. A 4-0 run with Paige Denton serving for ASU sparked some momentum for the home team, making it 21-13. The Sun Devils fought off four set points, but the Trojans took the set 25-19.
Set Five: USC 15, Arizona State 5
The Trojans dominated the fifth set. USC had a 10-0 run to go up 12-3, giving ASU a limited chance to come back. The Sun Devils would fall 15-5 in the last set to drop the match.
Up Next
The final match of the regular season will be against in-state rival Arizona (15-16, 5-14 Pac-12) on Saturday in Tucson. The match will be live on the Pac-12 Network at noon MST. Earlier this season, the Sun Devils swept the Wildcats in Tempe.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (16-14, 8-11 Pac-12) dropped the only matchup of the year against USC (17-12, 11-8 Pac-12).
- The Sun Devils are 6-4 in five-set matches this season, 4-3 in the Pac-12. Ten matches going to five is the most since 2014 when they played 14.
- ASU finishes the regular season with a 5-5 record in Desert Financial Arena.
- Courtney Leffel broke into the top 10 for digs in a single season at ASU after earning 20 tonight to up her season number to 544, passing Kelly Plaisted's 538 total she earned in 1990. She is six digs away from Stephanie Preach in ninth place with 550 digs back in 2013.
- Leffel has had double-digit digs in nine-straight matches. This was her 14th match with 20 or more digs.
- Senior outside hitter Ivana Jeremic led ASU in kills with 16 on a .289 clip. She has had 10 or more digs in the last five matches. Additionally, she had a team-high four blocks.
- Pin hitters Andrea Mitrovic and Jada Burse also reached double figures in kills with 15 and 11, respectively.
- Senior setter Callie Jones led ASU in assists with 20. Miller had 15 assists to go with her 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
- Junior Claire Kovensky had 12 digs, as well as six kills.
Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic
On tonight's five set loss to USC
"Tough way to end the season at home, obviously not the way we wanted to perform, not the outcome we wanted tonight. It's disappointing, but we have another match on Saturday and hopefully we come back ready to play... We need to work through our weaknesses and do a better job of getting mentally tough. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to make it better… My hope is we continue improving, with this match you can see that we have room to improve. I thought we were doing a lot better and improving as a team as the season goes on.
On the next match against rival Arizona
"Going to play Arizona should be fun. It's the Territorial Cup and it's always fun playing them. It's been a while since we beat them over there and we played really well against them the first time so I'm excited to see how we play. I think they're going to be hungry and ready to show up."
On ASU's potential spot in the NCAA tournament
"Obviously I would be more than happy to play in the NCAA Tournament and I hope they choose us because I think we are ready for it. But right now, we need to focus on Arizona and win that match."
Set One: USC 25, Arizona State 19
The first set saw the Trojans lead from start to finish. They opened with a 4-0 run and never looked back. Another 4-0 run make it 7-2 in favor of the visitors, causing the Sun Devils to call an early timeout. Behind two kills from Burse, ASU battled to score five in a row, closing in on the lead at 17-15. However, USC was able to pull away again, winning 25-19 after a 5-1 at the end of the set. Arizona State allowed eight USC blocks in the opening frame.
Set Two: Arizona State 30, USC 28
The Sun Devils took the lead early, a block from Megan Beedie and Jeremic making it 3-1. The teams battled back and forth until the Trojans went on a huge 8-1 run to go up 17-11. However, the Sun Devils responded with a 5-1 run that saw two ASU blocks to get within two, 18-16. After USC pushed its lead back to four at 22-18, Arizona State scored three-straight points to make it 22-21, forcing a timeout from the visitors. The set required extra points to find a winner. The Sun Devil fought off four match points and an ace from Leffel paired with a kill from Mitrovic got ASU the 30-28 win.
Set Three: Arizona State 25, USC 20
After taking the lead at 2-1, Arizona State did not give up the lead. The teams kept it close until a 4-0 run pushed the Sun Devils' lead to 19-15, capped off by a block by Burse. Jeremic served ASU three more points to make it 22-16. Kovensky came up clutch down the stretch, getting kills to put the Sun Devils at set point and then to win at 25-20.
Set Four: USC 25, Arizona State 19
It was all USC in the fourth set. Eight points in a row for the Trojans made it 8-2. The Sun Devils called their second timeout when they were trailing 15-5. A 4-0 run with Paige Denton serving for ASU sparked some momentum for the home team, making it 21-13. The Sun Devils fought off four set points, but the Trojans took the set 25-19.
Set Five: USC 15, Arizona State 5
The Trojans dominated the fifth set. USC had a 10-0 run to go up 12-3, giving ASU a limited chance to come back. The Sun Devils would fall 15-5 in the last set to drop the match.
Up Next
The final match of the regular season will be against in-state rival Arizona (15-16, 5-14 Pac-12) on Saturday in Tucson. The match will be live on the Pac-12 Network at noon MST. Earlier this season, the Sun Devils swept the Wildcats in Tempe.