TEMPE, Ariz. – Behind 20 kills from Marta Levinska, Sun Devil Volleyball beat Oregon State in four sets (20-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-15) on Friday night in Desert Financial Arena.
Notable Stats
Arizona State Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic
Opening Statement
"I love the way we played. I'm obviously super happy about getting this win. After that first set, we cleaned it up a lot more on our side. In the first set, I believe we made 12 or 13 errors. So we gave them 13 points, I believe. And then in the next three sets I think we made about 11 errors total."
On Marta's impact on the game tonight
"Marta was just amazing. And more importantly, she was amazing out of the back row tonight. She was 7-of-11 out of the back row. No mistakes. That's just amazing. So I'm really happy for her."
On what changed after losing the first set
"We served a lot better. And in the first set, we made five serving errors, and those were not good mistakes either. It's one thing if you miss a serve long, but when you miss being scared because you're serving the ball not to miss instead of going for a good serve, that mindset is completely different. And we talked about that and we made that adjustment."
On the importance of winning tonight ahead of Sunday's game vs. Oregon
"It was super important to get this one tonight to get into the next match of the weekend. We need to finish the weekend strong. I think Oregon is an amazing team. Obviously they have lots of good players. And they have I believe three fifth-year seniors on their team – so a lot of experience – they have one of the smartest players in the country, in my opinion, in Brooke Nuneviller. So I think if we put up a good fight, it could go both ways. So I think the key is going to be that we continue what we started tonight into Sunday's match."
Junior Outside Hitter Marta Levinska
Overall feeling after tonight's win over Oregon State:
"It feels great, we started out pretty slow but the last sets were just amazing. Our energy was great and it's very nice playing at home and feeling the energy from the fans and from our bench, from each other. It was very nice"
On how has the connection with Shannon Shields evolved over the season:
"It has evolved kind of slowly, we started the season running a 6-2 and then 5-1 and then we switched both of them. Me and Shannon somehow connected this season and she just gets me. Her comfort set is behind sets and she's a lefty too. So we have kind of connected this season"
On biggest difference between the first set and the last three sets:
"Definitely our serving, our serving got a lot better and we served where we were supposed to serve. Didn't make that many errors and I think that as soon as we ellminned those uncalled for errors we were able to gain our confidence and get in rhythm."
Set One: OSU 25, ASU 20
A 3-0 run put ASU up 3-1 early, capped off by a solo block from Cyr. From there, the two teams traded points, the Sun Devils holding on to the slight advantage. After three ties, an error from the home team gave the Beavers their first lead since 1-0. The teams continued to go back and forth until a 4-1 run for Oregon State created some separation, going up 17-13 and forcing Arizona State to call its first timeout. The runs stopped from there, but the damage had been done. The ASU errors piled up and OSU took the set 25-20.
Set Two: ASU 25, OSU 20
Like the opening frame, the second set started close. A block from Claudia Stahlke tied it up at 8-8. ASU put together three-straight points to go up 11-9, a run that saw two kills from Levinska and a block from Jeter. Isanovic moved into 11th place for career kills with a kill that was part of a 3-0 run to push the ASU lead to 16-12. The Beavers got back in it with a 3-1 run to get within one, down 18-17. However, Levinska responded with two-straight kills, part of her eight kills in the frame, forcing an OSU timeout. A 3-0 run for ASU pushed the lead to 23-18 and a kill from Isanovic sealed the win at 25-20.
Set Three: ASU 25, OSU 15
After a close start to the set, the Sun Devils pushed their lead to 13-7 with a 5-0 run that saw three Beaver errors, an ace from Jeter and a kill from Isanovic. It was all ASU from there. Two kills from Levinska and an ace from Shields scored three in a row, making it 16-8. Kills from Isanovic and Levinska were the last two points for Arizona State to get the 25-15 win. Levinska had six kills in this set, hitting. 600.
Set Four: ASU 25, OSU 15
The Sun Devils were able to finish out their final set quickly and efficiently. Kills from Levinska and Jeter, along with a service ace from Isanovic, allowed the Devils to gain a fast 7-3 lead over the Beavers. ASU was able to further capitalize off of that thanks to a serving run from Meadow Cooper that allowed the Sun Devils to extend their lead over the Beavers 20-11. After Larson-Nummer scored the 24th point of the set with a kill off of a wild hustle play, the Shields and Jeter blocking duo quickly finished out the game with the Sun Devils comfortably securing a 25-15 win.
Up Next
Arizona State will host No. 18 Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST for the annual Halloween game. Fans not in attendance caan watch on Pac-12 Insider.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (11-12, 5-6 Pac-12) completed the season sweep over Oregon State (7-14, 2-9 Pac-12) after the win tonight. ASU held OSU to a .127 hitting percentage.
- Junior pin hitter Marta Levinska had a stand-out night, putting away 20 kills on a .500 clip. This is her second time this season reaching 20-plus kills. She also had eight digs, two blocks and two aces.
- The team had 12 blocks, which is the third time in the last five matches that ASU has reached double figures in blocks. Junior Claire Jeter, in her first game back after being out last weekend, led the way with seven.
- The other Sun Devil in double figures in kills was Iman Isanovic with 15. She had a double-double with 10 digs, her ninth of the season. She also moved into sole possession of 11th place in career kills in the ASU record book with 1,270, passing Mindy Gowell (1987-91).
- Senior setter Shannon Shields led the offense, tallying 38 assists in the win. She added seven digs and three blocks, the latter of which is a season high.
- At libero, senior Annika Larson-Nummer led the team in digs with 13. This extends her career-long streak of matches in a row with double-digit digs to eight.
- This was the sixth-highest attended volleyball match at ASU with 3,502 tickets sold.
Arizona State Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic
Opening Statement
"I love the way we played. I'm obviously super happy about getting this win. After that first set, we cleaned it up a lot more on our side. In the first set, I believe we made 12 or 13 errors. So we gave them 13 points, I believe. And then in the next three sets I think we made about 11 errors total."
On Marta's impact on the game tonight
"Marta was just amazing. And more importantly, she was amazing out of the back row tonight. She was 7-of-11 out of the back row. No mistakes. That's just amazing. So I'm really happy for her."
On what changed after losing the first set
"We served a lot better. And in the first set, we made five serving errors, and those were not good mistakes either. It's one thing if you miss a serve long, but when you miss being scared because you're serving the ball not to miss instead of going for a good serve, that mindset is completely different. And we talked about that and we made that adjustment."
On the importance of winning tonight ahead of Sunday's game vs. Oregon
"It was super important to get this one tonight to get into the next match of the weekend. We need to finish the weekend strong. I think Oregon is an amazing team. Obviously they have lots of good players. And they have I believe three fifth-year seniors on their team – so a lot of experience – they have one of the smartest players in the country, in my opinion, in Brooke Nuneviller. So I think if we put up a good fight, it could go both ways. So I think the key is going to be that we continue what we started tonight into Sunday's match."
S3 | Marta is on another level tonight ?? Currently has 16 kills, hitting .452 ??????
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) October 29, 2022
??: https://t.co/54A8wp9W1R#ForksUp /// #EarnIt pic.twitter.com/8YNeJJC5jV
Junior Outside Hitter Marta Levinska
Overall feeling after tonight's win over Oregon State:
"It feels great, we started out pretty slow but the last sets were just amazing. Our energy was great and it's very nice playing at home and feeling the energy from the fans and from our bench, from each other. It was very nice"
On how has the connection with Shannon Shields evolved over the season:
"It has evolved kind of slowly, we started the season running a 6-2 and then 5-1 and then we switched both of them. Me and Shannon somehow connected this season and she just gets me. Her comfort set is behind sets and she's a lefty too. So we have kind of connected this season"
On biggest difference between the first set and the last three sets:
"Definitely our serving, our serving got a lot better and we served where we were supposed to serve. Didn't make that many errors and I think that as soon as we ellminned those uncalled for errors we were able to gain our confidence and get in rhythm."
Set One: OSU 25, ASU 20
A 3-0 run put ASU up 3-1 early, capped off by a solo block from Cyr. From there, the two teams traded points, the Sun Devils holding on to the slight advantage. After three ties, an error from the home team gave the Beavers their first lead since 1-0. The teams continued to go back and forth until a 4-1 run for Oregon State created some separation, going up 17-13 and forcing Arizona State to call its first timeout. The runs stopped from there, but the damage had been done. The ASU errors piled up and OSU took the set 25-20.
Set Two: ASU 25, OSU 20
Like the opening frame, the second set started close. A block from Claudia Stahlke tied it up at 8-8. ASU put together three-straight points to go up 11-9, a run that saw two kills from Levinska and a block from Jeter. Isanovic moved into 11th place for career kills with a kill that was part of a 3-0 run to push the ASU lead to 16-12. The Beavers got back in it with a 3-1 run to get within one, down 18-17. However, Levinska responded with two-straight kills, part of her eight kills in the frame, forcing an OSU timeout. A 3-0 run for ASU pushed the lead to 23-18 and a kill from Isanovic sealed the win at 25-20.
S2 | Iman powers it away and we take the second set!!
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) October 29, 2022
??: https://t.co/54A8wp9W1R#ForksUp /// #EarnIt pic.twitter.com/B0huCERPjH
Set Three: ASU 25, OSU 15
After a close start to the set, the Sun Devils pushed their lead to 13-7 with a 5-0 run that saw three Beaver errors, an ace from Jeter and a kill from Isanovic. It was all ASU from there. Two kills from Levinska and an ace from Shields scored three in a row, making it 16-8. Kills from Isanovic and Levinska were the last two points for Arizona State to get the 25-15 win. Levinska had six kills in this set, hitting. 600.
Set Four: ASU 25, OSU 15
The Sun Devils were able to finish out their final set quickly and efficiently. Kills from Levinska and Jeter, along with a service ace from Isanovic, allowed the Devils to gain a fast 7-3 lead over the Beavers. ASU was able to further capitalize off of that thanks to a serving run from Meadow Cooper that allowed the Sun Devils to extend their lead over the Beavers 20-11. After Larson-Nummer scored the 24th point of the set with a kill off of a wild hustle play, the Shields and Jeter blocking duo quickly finished out the game with the Sun Devils comfortably securing a 25-15 win.
Up Next
Arizona State will host No. 18 Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST for the annual Halloween game. Fans not in attendance caan watch on Pac-12 Insider.