TEMPE – Our State! No. 10 Sun Devil Beach Volleyball wrapped up the Pac-12 South Tournament with a 3-2 win over No. 19 Arizona on Sunday, which followed a 3-2 loss to No. 7 Cal earlier in the day.
Arizona State (8-2) beat Arizona (8-3) for the third-straight time at home. ASU also earns a half point in the Territorial Cup Series, with the second half up for grabs in Tucson on April 18.
The win over Arizona was the fifth ranked victory of the year, extending the program record for wins over ranked opponents in a single season. The 8-2 start to a season is also the best record through the first 10 games that the Sun Devils have ever had.
The top pair of Daniella Kensinger and Anya Pemberton went undefeated on the day, winning both of their matches in straight sets against duos from ranked teams. They improved to 7-3, which is tied for the best pairs record on the team with Taryn Ames and Lexi Sweeney.
Game One: #7 Cal 3, #10 ASU 2
Cal (9-3) went up 2-0 after the first wave and clinched at the fives to win the match. However, ASU picked up a pair of wins in the last two matches at the No. 1 and 3 spots. Kensinger and Pemberton on the top court won a close 24-22 first set and then dominated the second set, 21-10. For the veteran duo of Ames and Sweeney, they lost the first set and came back to win in three, leading from the jump in the final set to win 15-8.
Results (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 5*, 1, 3)
Game Two: #10 ASU 3, #19 Arizona 2
A nail-biting Territorial Cup series matchup was successful for the Sun Devils as they defeated the Wildcats, 3-2. ASU picked up its first point during the twos match with Besecker and Williamson, where they swept Arizona handily. Arizona struck next in the fours matchup, where they won it to three sets to tie the dual, 1-1. In the No. 1 spot, Kensinger and Pemberton finished in their second sweep of the day and almost set a new record for the longest set in team history in their second set, earning the win 30-28. For the win, the No. 5 duo of Carys Thomas and Kael battled it out in three close sets, ultimately besting the Cats in the last set, 15-12.
Results (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 5*, 3)
The Sun Devils are on the road this upcoming weekend as they travel to Long Beach, California to play in the LBSU Tournament.
Quotes
Head Coach Kristen Rohr
Thoughts on the day:
"They (Arizona) played great. They came with a chip on their shoulder, ready to compete. Especially with us being at home, I'm sure they wanted to take us down, and I was really happy with how we responded. Some different people stepped up in different spots and we battled it out and grinded until the end, and I was just really happy with how we played. I thought it was a great weekend overall. Definitely some things that we want to get back to practice and fine tune before we go to California, but when you play teams like that, you learn a lot about where we need to get better. With how early it is in the season, I'm still just really pleased with where we're at."
On the fives earning the clinch:
"We've been trying different rotations and it's nice because we have a bunch of people that have the ability to play in that spot. It's just about finding the combination that's gonna be successful. I think Carys (Thomas) and Rylie (Kael) were down like 9-6 in the third and chipped away and came back and it obviously was a very important win for us."
Junior Anya Pemberton
Thoughts on the day:
"I'm really proud of how we have been from the start of the season, there has been improvement every game. We played No. 7 Cal this morning and we didn't give it to them easily. I think that we played really well against them and we have some tweaks that we're going to smooth out this week before we go to Long Beach."
On her win against Arizona
"That (last set) was crazy for me. We had the advantage in the first part, and then it was really back and forth. I felt it was really nerve wracking for me because they started serving to me, but I'm really proud of me and Dani because we really stayed together on the serve. We didn't miss any serves. We pretty much kept our side very consistent and the energy between us felt great. It was so fun."
Junior Rylie Kael
Thoughts on the day:
"I feel like our team did a really good job. I feel like we knew that this weekend wasn't going to be easy. I don't think that we let off the brakes. I think that we worked really hard through every game, no matter who it was against. I'm really proud of our team for finishing it out. Even when we were down, we just persevered and that's something really special about our team."
On clinching the win for the Sun Devils against the Wildcats:
"It definitely felt really great, especially because earlier I was the third loss when we played Cal and I was being targeted against U of A. So I was just in my head, I was definitely very nervous, but I knew we had to win, we had to do it. Carys and I had a great vibe going. We were a couple of points down in the third set, but we told each other that we knew we were going to pull it out. So that was really exciting and I'm just glad we won."
Arizona State (8-2) beat Arizona (8-3) for the third-straight time at home. ASU also earns a half point in the Territorial Cup Series, with the second half up for grabs in Tucson on April 18.
The win over Arizona was the fifth ranked victory of the year, extending the program record for wins over ranked opponents in a single season. The 8-2 start to a season is also the best record through the first 10 games that the Sun Devils have ever had.
NO PITY ??#SandDevils /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/7f6xmNnSHf
— Sun Devil Beach VB (@SunDevilBeachVB) March 11, 2024
The top pair of Daniella Kensinger and Anya Pemberton went undefeated on the day, winning both of their matches in straight sets against duos from ranked teams. They improved to 7-3, which is tied for the best pairs record on the team with Taryn Ames and Lexi Sweeney.
Game One: #7 Cal 3, #10 ASU 2
Cal (9-3) went up 2-0 after the first wave and clinched at the fives to win the match. However, ASU picked up a pair of wins in the last two matches at the No. 1 and 3 spots. Kensinger and Pemberton on the top court won a close 24-22 first set and then dominated the second set, 21-10. For the veteran duo of Ames and Sweeney, they lost the first set and came back to win in three, leading from the jump in the final set to win 15-8.
Results (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 5*, 1, 3)
- Daniella Kensinger/Anya Pemberton (ASU) def. Caffo/Peters (CAL) 24-22, 21-10
- Donley/Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Arden Besecker/Ava Williamson (ASU) 21-19, 19-21, 15-8
- Taryn Ames/Lexi Sweeney (ASU) def. Fisher/Pally (CAL) 18-21, 21-18, 15-8
- Boos/Buchner (CAL) def. Ava Haughy/Ava Kirunchyk (ASU) 21-15, 18-21, 17-15
- Dreibholz/Sherman (CAL) def. Rylie Kael/Kendall Whitmarsh (ASU) 21-9, 21-16
1??s and 3??s got it done, winning their matches against pairs from No. 7 Cal ??#SandDevils /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/FqdJHvG0Bi
— Sun Devil Beach VB (@SunDevilBeachVB) March 10, 2024
Game Two: #10 ASU 3, #19 Arizona 2
A nail-biting Territorial Cup series matchup was successful for the Sun Devils as they defeated the Wildcats, 3-2. ASU picked up its first point during the twos match with Besecker and Williamson, where they swept Arizona handily. Arizona struck next in the fours matchup, where they won it to three sets to tie the dual, 1-1. In the No. 1 spot, Kensinger and Pemberton finished in their second sweep of the day and almost set a new record for the longest set in team history in their second set, earning the win 30-28. For the win, the No. 5 duo of Carys Thomas and Kael battled it out in three close sets, ultimately besting the Cats in the last set, 15-12.
Results (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 5*, 3)
- Daniella Kensinger/Anya Pemberton (ASU) def. McElroy/Russell (ARIZ) 21-17, 30-28
- Arden Besecker/Ava Williamson (ASU) def. Cook/Fitzsimmons (ARIZ) 21-15, 21-14
- Kost/Shannon (ARIZ) def. Taryn Ames/Lexi Sweeney (ASU) 21-14, 18-21, 15-8
- Horwath/Phillips (ARIZ) def. Ava Haughy/Ava Kirunchyk (ASU) 21-19, 19-21, 16-14
- Rylie Kael/Carys Thomas (ASU) def. Erro/Zilliken (ARIZ) 21-19, 19-21, 15-12
1??s GET IT DONE! They won the second set 30-28 to take the match ??
— Sun Devil Beach VB (@SunDevilBeachVB) March 11, 2024
?? 2, ?? 1
??: Pac-12 Network (https://t.co/OgRfgEJZEj)#SandDevils /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/ZUKcnfaFri
The Sun Devils are on the road this upcoming weekend as they travel to Long Beach, California to play in the LBSU Tournament.
Quotes
Head Coach Kristen Rohr
Thoughts on the day:
"They (Arizona) played great. They came with a chip on their shoulder, ready to compete. Especially with us being at home, I'm sure they wanted to take us down, and I was really happy with how we responded. Some different people stepped up in different spots and we battled it out and grinded until the end, and I was just really happy with how we played. I thought it was a great weekend overall. Definitely some things that we want to get back to practice and fine tune before we go to California, but when you play teams like that, you learn a lot about where we need to get better. With how early it is in the season, I'm still just really pleased with where we're at."
On the fives earning the clinch:
"We've been trying different rotations and it's nice because we have a bunch of people that have the ability to play in that spot. It's just about finding the combination that's gonna be successful. I think Carys (Thomas) and Rylie (Kael) were down like 9-6 in the third and chipped away and came back and it obviously was a very important win for us."
Junior Anya Pemberton
Thoughts on the day:
"I'm really proud of how we have been from the start of the season, there has been improvement every game. We played No. 7 Cal this morning and we didn't give it to them easily. I think that we played really well against them and we have some tweaks that we're going to smooth out this week before we go to Long Beach."
On her win against Arizona
"That (last set) was crazy for me. We had the advantage in the first part, and then it was really back and forth. I felt it was really nerve wracking for me because they started serving to me, but I'm really proud of me and Dani because we really stayed together on the serve. We didn't miss any serves. We pretty much kept our side very consistent and the energy between us felt great. It was so fun."
Junior Rylie Kael
Thoughts on the day:
"I feel like our team did a really good job. I feel like we knew that this weekend wasn't going to be easy. I don't think that we let off the brakes. I think that we worked really hard through every game, no matter who it was against. I'm really proud of our team for finishing it out. Even when we were down, we just persevered and that's something really special about our team."
On clinching the win for the Sun Devils against the Wildcats:
"It definitely felt really great, especially because earlier I was the third loss when we played Cal and I was being targeted against U of A. So I was just in my head, I was definitely very nervous, but I knew we had to win, we had to do it. Carys and I had a great vibe going. We were a couple of points down in the third set, but we told each other that we knew we were going to pull it out. So that was really exciting and I'm just glad we won."