TEMPE – Behind Geli Cyr's fourth double-double in a row, No. 13 Sun Devil Volleyball earned its sixth win in a row by beating Colorado in straight sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) on Friday night in Mullett Arena.
Notable Stats
Set One: ASU 25, Colorado 22
Colorado put some pressure on ASU to start things off close after CU took a 11-8 lead. But two kills by Cromartie and an ace by Ung tied the set 11-11. ASU then added on three to go up 14-12 with the help of a block by Cromartie and Jeter and another kill by Cromartie. However, the Buffaloes joined the Sun Devils at 14-14 and quickly took the lead back 15-14. A kill by Cyr and two blocks by Kjolhede and Miller resulted in an 18-15 lead for ASU, forcing Colorado to call its first timeout to quiet things down. After the Buffaloes took back the lead by one, a trio of attacks by the Sun Devils carried them to a 23-19 lead, which preceded a second timeout call by the visitors. The Buffaloes scored three in a row to make it 23-22 and pushed ASU to call its first timeout. With back-to-back kills by Cromartie, for her seventh this set, ASU finalized the battle for a 25-22 set win.
Set Two: ASU 25, Colorado 16
To keep the pattern of the first set, the two teams kept in proximity tied at 6-6, which included three kills by Cyr to keep ASU in it early. After Colorado took a small lead, kills by Miller and Jeter evened it up at 10-10 for Arizona State. The Sun Devils gained a 15-12 lead after a couple of kills by Cyr and a kill by Miller. ASU obtained the biggest lead of the game so far, 20-12, with three aces by Covell and kills by Cyr and Ung. In that run, the Sun Devils pushed the Buffaloes to call two timeouts. Three kills by the ASU offense put the team in match-point position, 24-16. Neal then recorded an ace that won the Sun Devils the set 25-16 for a 2-0 advantage.
Set Three: ASU 25, Colorado 21
Third set started off close yet again, but the Sun Devils took a 15-5 advantage after a nine-point run, resulting in two timeout calls by the Buffaloes. After a pair of kills for Colorado, an attack by Cyr made it 16-8 for ASU. Colorado's struggle to put some attacks together paired nicely with the three aces by Neal which added to the Sun Devils 22-14 lead. In an attempt to halt Buffaloes four-point rally that made it 22-18, ASU called for a timeout. The Sun Devils did just that with kills by Cyr and Kjolhede that brought them to a clinching opportunity, 24-19. After Colorado tackled a pair in hopes to stay alive, a kill by Ung silenced the opportunity, bringing in the 25-21 ASU win.
Up Next
Arizona State is back home for its third-straight Mullett Arena match on Monday, hosting Grand Canyon for a late-season non-conference match at 6:30 p.m. MST.
ASU Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement
"A really fun crowd tonight in Mullett, and it's always good playing in front of a big crowd. I'll always open talking about that because we love playing in front of a big crowd. Nice to get a win against a Colorado team who's been playing some good volleyball. They've been very scrappy and I think they won three-straight five setters heading into this. So I thought we executed really nicely offensively, despite maybe not our best passing match. It's good to get a win."
On what Geli Cyr contributes to this team
"Geli has done a nice job filling a bigger role this year than maybe last year offensively, but she's doing the same stuff this year she was doing last year, which is digging balls, passing balls. As I've mentioned, she's worked really hard and I think she has come a long way and she's got a very high IQ and does a lot of things for us. So it's nice having her out there."
On what veteran traits Brynn Covell possesses
"Brynn is very composed, and I'll be honest, her serving probably hasn't been where we felt it needed to be and she's been working really hard. I thought she was our best server tonight by far. She had several point runs and we see that every practice over and over and over again. She's ripping serves at us, and I think she's really turned it on and done a nice job these last couple of matches for us serving."
On how the defense has grown throughout the season so far
"I do think it's (defense) contagious because I was actually talking to Argentina the other day. I don't know if I should put this out there, but I'm like 'Argentina, I don't remember you being this good of a defender when you were up at Wazzu.' She goes, 'I know!'. Shania is a very underrated defender. She's faster than anyone on the team, I think. She flies all over the place and then you have Geli. We talk in our gym a lot about standards and I just think they set a very high standard, and you see it with everyone. The kids that you guys don't get to see that aren't carrying a big role for us necessarily on the court in matches do in the gym and they're flying around too. Estella (Zatechka) had a really nice dig today too. So I just think we've got some kids that are really high-level defenders and it brings, it's the saying, rising tide lifts all boats."
Senior Outside Hitter Geli Cyr
On diversifying her playing style for the team
"Yeah, it's hard for me because I want to be great at all parts, but part of being an outside is it's nearly impossible to be on at blocking, serving, digging, and hitting, at once. I'll talk to JJ and he'll tell me to focus on one thing. So tonight, I focused on getting a touch on the slide block and it finally happened, so I felt good about that win. I have to remember that I have a wider role than just putting the ball away. I have to get the passes for the middles to run and make sure I'm back there digging so they feel good about it."
On playing physical against a conference with more height
"Yeah we knew that Colorado was going to be bigger in general. Same with Baylor and Kansas. But I think a big thing that we try and do is wear the other team down. If we can just dig it five times, eventually they're gonna miss and we're gonna put the ball down. A big thing for us is just outlasting big teams."
Redshirt Freshman Setter Brynn Covell
On what aspects she's grown the most on this season while playing in a new role
"I think never having played DS before, I was like, alright let's do this. I kind of jumped into it and wanted to play and was grateful for the opportunities. Just learning from my team and having fun in that new role has been really cool."
On how she's learning from Argentina Ung to build her up as a setter
"There is so much that she does that is so, so good. I think it's really cool for me to get to see the blockers on the other side and when she makes decisions. There's a lot of small decisions that people don't realize when she serving, digging, just everything. I am grateful to play with her."
On the importance of watching film before matches
"I think it gives us a lot of confidence and that we know what needs to happen. We get into the game and it gives us this 'we've worked for this' type of mentality and JJ does well with numbers. You know your stats, where you are matched up against other players, and that helps a lot, we know exactly what the plan is."
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) got its sixth win in a row in the victory over Colorado (10-9, 3-4 Big 12), which was also the third sweep in a row (13th sweep of the year).
- Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr had her fourth-straight double-double with a game-high in both kills (14) and digs (11). It was her sixth double-double of the year (six of the last seven) and 17th of her career.
- Two second-year Sun Devils had strong serving outings. Sophomore Jillian Neal tied her career high with four, including three in a row in the third set. Redshirt freshman Brynn Covell had three to go along with her seven assists and six digs. ASU had nine aces, compared to Colorado's two. Nine is tied for the second-highest total the Sun Devils have had this season, which has happened three other times.
- It was another well-rounded outing for graduate setter Argentina Ung. She had 28 assists, nine digs and seven kills, the latter matching her season high.
- The pins brought it in the win as graduate outside hitter Shania Cromartie added nine kills, the second-highest on the team. She also had five digs.
- Leading the defense at the net was graduate middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede with four. She also had four kills.
- Graduate libero Mary Shroll's double-digit dig streak ended at 21, the longest of her career. She had six digs and three assists.
- Cyr and Shroll were named to the AVCA 2024 Division I Player of the Year Watchlist, as announced earlier on Friday by the AVCA.
- The attendance at tonight's match was 3,003, which is the fifth time this season that the attendance has been over 3,000 at home this season. The Sun Devils are undefeated at home this season, a perfect 8-0 and having lost just two sets all year at home.
Set One: ASU 25, Colorado 22
Colorado put some pressure on ASU to start things off close after CU took a 11-8 lead. But two kills by Cromartie and an ace by Ung tied the set 11-11. ASU then added on three to go up 14-12 with the help of a block by Cromartie and Jeter and another kill by Cromartie. However, the Buffaloes joined the Sun Devils at 14-14 and quickly took the lead back 15-14. A kill by Cyr and two blocks by Kjolhede and Miller resulted in an 18-15 lead for ASU, forcing Colorado to call its first timeout to quiet things down. After the Buffaloes took back the lead by one, a trio of attacks by the Sun Devils carried them to a 23-19 lead, which preceded a second timeout call by the visitors. The Buffaloes scored three in a row to make it 23-22 and pushed ASU to call its first timeout. With back-to-back kills by Cromartie, for her seventh this set, ASU finalized the battle for a 25-22 set win.
Set Two: ASU 25, Colorado 16
To keep the pattern of the first set, the two teams kept in proximity tied at 6-6, which included three kills by Cyr to keep ASU in it early. After Colorado took a small lead, kills by Miller and Jeter evened it up at 10-10 for Arizona State. The Sun Devils gained a 15-12 lead after a couple of kills by Cyr and a kill by Miller. ASU obtained the biggest lead of the game so far, 20-12, with three aces by Covell and kills by Cyr and Ung. In that run, the Sun Devils pushed the Buffaloes to call two timeouts. Three kills by the ASU offense put the team in match-point position, 24-16. Neal then recorded an ace that won the Sun Devils the set 25-16 for a 2-0 advantage.
S1 | @CyrAngelique, I think you left a dent in the floor after this one ??
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) October 19, 2024
???: ESPN+#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/4xWB7oqZN7
Set Three: ASU 25, Colorado 21
Third set started off close yet again, but the Sun Devils took a 15-5 advantage after a nine-point run, resulting in two timeout calls by the Buffaloes. After a pair of kills for Colorado, an attack by Cyr made it 16-8 for ASU. Colorado's struggle to put some attacks together paired nicely with the three aces by Neal which added to the Sun Devils 22-14 lead. In an attempt to halt Buffaloes four-point rally that made it 22-18, ASU called for a timeout. The Sun Devils did just that with kills by Cyr and Kjolhede that brought them to a clinching opportunity, 24-19. After Colorado tackled a pair in hopes to stay alive, a kill by Ung silenced the opportunity, bringing in the 25-21 ASU win.
Up Next
Arizona State is back home for its third-straight Mullett Arena match on Monday, hosting Grand Canyon for a late-season non-conference match at 6:30 p.m. MST.
ASU Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement
"A really fun crowd tonight in Mullett, and it's always good playing in front of a big crowd. I'll always open talking about that because we love playing in front of a big crowd. Nice to get a win against a Colorado team who's been playing some good volleyball. They've been very scrappy and I think they won three-straight five setters heading into this. So I thought we executed really nicely offensively, despite maybe not our best passing match. It's good to get a win."
On what Geli Cyr contributes to this team
"Geli has done a nice job filling a bigger role this year than maybe last year offensively, but she's doing the same stuff this year she was doing last year, which is digging balls, passing balls. As I've mentioned, she's worked really hard and I think she has come a long way and she's got a very high IQ and does a lot of things for us. So it's nice having her out there."
On what veteran traits Brynn Covell possesses
"Brynn is very composed, and I'll be honest, her serving probably hasn't been where we felt it needed to be and she's been working really hard. I thought she was our best server tonight by far. She had several point runs and we see that every practice over and over and over again. She's ripping serves at us, and I think she's really turned it on and done a nice job these last couple of matches for us serving."
On how the defense has grown throughout the season so far
"I do think it's (defense) contagious because I was actually talking to Argentina the other day. I don't know if I should put this out there, but I'm like 'Argentina, I don't remember you being this good of a defender when you were up at Wazzu.' She goes, 'I know!'. Shania is a very underrated defender. She's faster than anyone on the team, I think. She flies all over the place and then you have Geli. We talk in our gym a lot about standards and I just think they set a very high standard, and you see it with everyone. The kids that you guys don't get to see that aren't carrying a big role for us necessarily on the court in matches do in the gym and they're flying around too. Estella (Zatechka) had a really nice dig today too. So I just think we've got some kids that are really high-level defenders and it brings, it's the saying, rising tide lifts all boats."
Senior Outside Hitter Geli Cyr
On diversifying her playing style for the team
"Yeah, it's hard for me because I want to be great at all parts, but part of being an outside is it's nearly impossible to be on at blocking, serving, digging, and hitting, at once. I'll talk to JJ and he'll tell me to focus on one thing. So tonight, I focused on getting a touch on the slide block and it finally happened, so I felt good about that win. I have to remember that I have a wider role than just putting the ball away. I have to get the passes for the middles to run and make sure I'm back there digging so they feel good about it."
On playing physical against a conference with more height
"Yeah we knew that Colorado was going to be bigger in general. Same with Baylor and Kansas. But I think a big thing that we try and do is wear the other team down. If we can just dig it five times, eventually they're gonna miss and we're gonna put the ball down. A big thing for us is just outlasting big teams."
Redshirt Freshman Setter Brynn Covell
On what aspects she's grown the most on this season while playing in a new role
"I think never having played DS before, I was like, alright let's do this. I kind of jumped into it and wanted to play and was grateful for the opportunities. Just learning from my team and having fun in that new role has been really cool."
On how she's learning from Argentina Ung to build her up as a setter
"There is so much that she does that is so, so good. I think it's really cool for me to get to see the blockers on the other side and when she makes decisions. There's a lot of small decisions that people don't realize when she serving, digging, just everything. I am grateful to play with her."
On the importance of watching film before matches
"I think it gives us a lot of confidence and that we know what needs to happen. We get into the game and it gives us this 'we've worked for this' type of mentality and JJ does well with numbers. You know your stats, where you are matched up against other players, and that helps a lot, we know exactly what the plan is."