TEMPE, Ariz. -- Fifth-year senior Jamye Cox had 21 digs on Senior Day, but Sun Devil Volleyball came up short to No. 16 Utah in four sets (26-24, 15-25, 25-20, 25-18) in the home finale on Sunday.
Notable Stats
Arizona State Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic
Opening Statement
"Tough loss to a good team. I think their go-to players did a good job taking care of the game. Dani Drews keeps proving that she is one of the best players in the conference and the country. Even though we knew that they were going to go to her tonight we couldn't stop her, especially out of the back row. It's tough to beat a good team twice, and I think that's one of those moments that just happened with us. We've got to get back in the gym and watch this film and learn from it."
On team's overall performance
"It was up and down. I thought we should've taken care of the first set, we were passing better than them, we had better ball control than them, but they hit .600 on a perfect pass, and we were hitting nine percent. I think that was the big difference in our first set."
On Jamye Cox
"I thought Jamye did really good defensively today. She dug some amazing balls. I've known Jamye for only five months, but I've learned so much from her. She has already made a huge impact on our team's culture and gym. Jamye is a true competitor, great teammate, amazing young lady in every way. She will be truly missed in the gym but she knows she has a whole family in Tempe for the rest of her life."
On being on the road for these next four games
"We talk about road games being a good thing for us and actually helping us because we get to be together, stay together, eat together, watch film together; we spend a lot of time together. I think that's good. There are some other sports that stay in a hotel the night before a game and we never get to do that when we're at home. But I really do think that helps because it gets your mind right. So I'm not that concerned about us being on the road. L.A. is a relatively easy trip from the travel standpoint because it's a short flight for us. We stay in the same hotel for four days and we don't have to switch hotels like we do at some other schools. I think that's going to help us."
On what the team needs to focus on for next weekend
"I think our serve receive and the rhythm of our offense. I think the rhythm of our offense is super important. I think we do have enough good arms in the gym right now that we can have people contribute at all times from each pin. Geli, Marta, Iman and Claire (Jeter). We haven't used Claire in the first set as much as I would like to. It would have been nice to move her and Claudia (Stahlke) more in that first set. But, we just need to focus on serve receive and the tempo and rhythm of our offense."
Fifth-Year Senior Libero Jamye Cox
Managing emotions surrounding senior night
"I could not have done it without my teammates. They reminded me that we have a game today. Absolutely I wanted to be in my feelings today, it's sad. It's letting go of a chapter in my life, but going out there and seeing the girls and the drive that they have, you instantly focus. There is no way that you are not focused because you see the girls around you and you want to do it for them. It was hard at first, but as soon as we started playing and I had them with me, it was super easy."
Leading a young team as a veteran player
"Right now all it comes down to is us competing and it is simply getting out there and reminding girls why we love the game. Everybody wants to win. There is not one person that I look at and wonder if they are focused that day. Everyone is here and engaged. Just giving the girls more confidence and if they make a mistake, it's a "we" thing, not just one person. This is us doing it, we are together, it's we. Just keeping it as a unit and remembering that we are all going after the same goal."
Advice for the younger girls
"Not focusing on what just happened. We have four more games in front of us that are super important; so just moving on, letting it go, and realizing that volleyball is a game of mistakes, a game of winning and losing. So right now, we have four games. These games are super important; what can we do for each match individually. It is just who we have next."
Set One: Utah 26, Arizona State 24
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the match after multiple kills by Levinska and an ace by Isanovic. The Utes were able to come back and tie the game at 10-10. The two teams then traded points back and forth until Utah scored on three consecutive kills and took a four-point lead at 19-15. After a Sun Devil timeout, a kill by Cyr and an error by Utah made it a two-point deficit. Both teams traded three kills each to put the score at 22-20. An ace by Cox and kills by Isanovic and Cyr gave ASU set point at 24-23, forcing the final Utah timeout. Utah came out of the timeout and scored three straight to take the first set 26-24.
Set Two: Arizona State 25, Utah 15
ASU and Utah were tied at 4-4 to begin the set before the Sun Devils went on a 7-0 run, forcing a Utah timeout at 11-4. The run included two kills and a block by Jeter as well as an ace by Cyr. Five kills by the Utes and an error by the Sun Devils put Utah within four at 18-14 before an ASU timeout. A 4-0 run out of the timeout by the Sun Devils made it an eight-point game and forced a Utah timeout at 22-14. A block by Jeter, her second of the match, gave the Sun Devils the set point at 24-14, and they took the set on a service error by Utah 25-15.
Set Three: Utah 25, Arizona State 20
A kill by Isanovic put the Sun Devils within one, 8-7, but a 3-0 spurt by the Utes forced an ASU timeout with a three-point deficit, 11-8. A kill by Levinska, an error by Utah and a block by Cyr cut the deficit to two, 14-12. A 3-0 run by the Sun Devils put them within one and a kill by Levinska forced a Utah timeout, 17-16. Utah stretched its lead to three before ASU called a timeout, 21-18. A kill by Levinska put the Sun Devils within four at set point but Utah took the set on a kill, 25-20.
Set Four: Utah 25, Arizona State 18
A 3-0 run by the Sun Devils, which featured kills by Isanovic and Levinska, tied the set at 10-10. Back-to-back kills from Levinska and Isanovic gave the Sun Devils the one-point lead, 14-13. Utah then went on a 6-1 run that saw ASU use both of its timeouts and gave the Utes the four-point lead, 19-15. A kill by Isanovic put a 4-0 run by Utah to a halt, but the damage was done with ASU trailing by five, 23-18. Utah would take the set and match on an ace, 25-18.
Up Next
Arizona State will travel to Los Angeles next weekend, facing the top team in the conference No. 12 UCLA on Friday at 7:00 p.m. MST before taking on USC on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. MST. Friday's match can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network and Sunday's match can be viewed on the USC live stream.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (14-13, 7-9 Pac-12) splits the season series with Utah (18-7, 11-5 Pac-12) with today's loss. The Sun Devils won in four sets in Salt Lake City earlier this season.
- In her final match at DFA, Jamye Cox notched double figures in digs for the third match in a row with a season-high 21. It was her 12th match in her career earning 20 or more digs.
- Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic notched 20 kills in the match to lead ASU. This was her eighth match this season with 20 or more kills. She has reached double-digit kills 11 matches in a row. Additionally, she neared a double-double with nine digs and added two solo blocks.
- Sophomore pin hitter Marta Levinska had 14 kills for her third match in a row with double figures in kills. She also had six digs and two blocks.
- Freshman outside hitter Geli Cyr reached double-digit kills for the eighth time, notching 10 in today's match. She had a career-high in blocks with four, two of which were solo blocks. She also notched nine digs.
- The setting duties were split in today's match. Junior setter Shannon Shields started and played the entirety of the first set, collecting 15 assists. Sophomore setter Ella Snyder played the rest of the match and notched 24 assists and had eight digs.
Arizona State Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic
Opening Statement
"Tough loss to a good team. I think their go-to players did a good job taking care of the game. Dani Drews keeps proving that she is one of the best players in the conference and the country. Even though we knew that they were going to go to her tonight we couldn't stop her, especially out of the back row. It's tough to beat a good team twice, and I think that's one of those moments that just happened with us. We've got to get back in the gym and watch this film and learn from it."
On team's overall performance
"It was up and down. I thought we should've taken care of the first set, we were passing better than them, we had better ball control than them, but they hit .600 on a perfect pass, and we were hitting nine percent. I think that was the big difference in our first set."
On Jamye Cox
"I thought Jamye did really good defensively today. She dug some amazing balls. I've known Jamye for only five months, but I've learned so much from her. She has already made a huge impact on our team's culture and gym. Jamye is a true competitor, great teammate, amazing young lady in every way. She will be truly missed in the gym but she knows she has a whole family in Tempe for the rest of her life."
On being on the road for these next four games
"We talk about road games being a good thing for us and actually helping us because we get to be together, stay together, eat together, watch film together; we spend a lot of time together. I think that's good. There are some other sports that stay in a hotel the night before a game and we never get to do that when we're at home. But I really do think that helps because it gets your mind right. So I'm not that concerned about us being on the road. L.A. is a relatively easy trip from the travel standpoint because it's a short flight for us. We stay in the same hotel for four days and we don't have to switch hotels like we do at some other schools. I think that's going to help us."
On what the team needs to focus on for next weekend
"I think our serve receive and the rhythm of our offense. I think the rhythm of our offense is super important. I think we do have enough good arms in the gym right now that we can have people contribute at all times from each pin. Geli, Marta, Iman and Claire (Jeter). We haven't used Claire in the first set as much as I would like to. It would have been nice to move her and Claudia (Stahlke) more in that first set. But, we just need to focus on serve receive and the tempo and rhythm of our offense."
Senior day feels ?? pic.twitter.com/LySoCVDV7N
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 14, 2021
Fifth-Year Senior Libero Jamye Cox
Managing emotions surrounding senior night
"I could not have done it without my teammates. They reminded me that we have a game today. Absolutely I wanted to be in my feelings today, it's sad. It's letting go of a chapter in my life, but going out there and seeing the girls and the drive that they have, you instantly focus. There is no way that you are not focused because you see the girls around you and you want to do it for them. It was hard at first, but as soon as we started playing and I had them with me, it was super easy."
Leading a young team as a veteran player
"Right now all it comes down to is us competing and it is simply getting out there and reminding girls why we love the game. Everybody wants to win. There is not one person that I look at and wonder if they are focused that day. Everyone is here and engaged. Just giving the girls more confidence and if they make a mistake, it's a "we" thing, not just one person. This is us doing it, we are together, it's we. Just keeping it as a unit and remembering that we are all going after the same goal."
Advice for the younger girls
"Not focusing on what just happened. We have four more games in front of us that are super important; so just moving on, letting it go, and realizing that volleyball is a game of mistakes, a game of winning and losing. So right now, we have four games. These games are super important; what can we do for each match individually. It is just who we have next."
Set One: Utah 26, Arizona State 24
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the match after multiple kills by Levinska and an ace by Isanovic. The Utes were able to come back and tie the game at 10-10. The two teams then traded points back and forth until Utah scored on three consecutive kills and took a four-point lead at 19-15. After a Sun Devil timeout, a kill by Cyr and an error by Utah made it a two-point deficit. Both teams traded three kills each to put the score at 22-20. An ace by Cox and kills by Isanovic and Cyr gave ASU set point at 24-23, forcing the final Utah timeout. Utah came out of the timeout and scored three straight to take the first set 26-24.
Set Two: Arizona State 25, Utah 15
ASU and Utah were tied at 4-4 to begin the set before the Sun Devils went on a 7-0 run, forcing a Utah timeout at 11-4. The run included two kills and a block by Jeter as well as an ace by Cyr. Five kills by the Utes and an error by the Sun Devils put Utah within four at 18-14 before an ASU timeout. A 4-0 run out of the timeout by the Sun Devils made it an eight-point game and forced a Utah timeout at 22-14. A block by Jeter, her second of the match, gave the Sun Devils the set point at 24-14, and they took the set on a service error by Utah 25-15.
Set Three: Utah 25, Arizona State 20
A kill by Isanovic put the Sun Devils within one, 8-7, but a 3-0 spurt by the Utes forced an ASU timeout with a three-point deficit, 11-8. A kill by Levinska, an error by Utah and a block by Cyr cut the deficit to two, 14-12. A 3-0 run by the Sun Devils put them within one and a kill by Levinska forced a Utah timeout, 17-16. Utah stretched its lead to three before ASU called a timeout, 21-18. A kill by Levinska put the Sun Devils within four at set point but Utah took the set on a kill, 25-20.
Set Four: Utah 25, Arizona State 18
A 3-0 run by the Sun Devils, which featured kills by Isanovic and Levinska, tied the set at 10-10. Back-to-back kills from Levinska and Isanovic gave the Sun Devils the one-point lead, 14-13. Utah then went on a 6-1 run that saw ASU use both of its timeouts and gave the Utes the four-point lead, 19-15. A kill by Isanovic put a 4-0 run by Utah to a halt, but the damage was done with ASU trailing by five, 23-18. Utah would take the set and match on an ace, 25-18.
Up Next
Arizona State will travel to Los Angeles next weekend, facing the top team in the conference No. 12 UCLA on Friday at 7:00 p.m. MST before taking on USC on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. MST. Friday's match can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network and Sunday's match can be viewed on the USC live stream.