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Miller’s career night drives #9 volleyball to five-set win at Texas State

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Volleyball team celebrates beating Texas StateVolleyball team celebrates beating Texas State
Aaron Meullion
by Kimberlie Haner
Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Senior outside hitter Bailey Miller earned career highs in kills (28) and digs (18) to help No. 9 Sun Devil Volleyball come back down 2-1 to win in five (24-26, 30-28, 20-25, 25-19, 15-9) at Texas State on Thursday night as part of the Texas State Invitational. 

Notable stats

  • Arizona State (5-1) won its second true road match of the season against Texas State (3-3). Under head coach JJ Van Niel, ASU is 4-2 in five-set matches. This is the ninth-straight road win for the program, dating back to last season.
  • The match was closely contested, with 46 total ties and 17 lead changes. 
  • Senior outside hitter Bailey Miller had the best outing of her career, earning new personal best in kills with 28 (.333) and digs with 18, both of which were match highs. This is her first double-double of the season, 17th of her career. Additionally, this is her third match in her career with 20 or more kills, first as a Sun Devil. Her 28 kills are the most by a Sun Devil this season. That number is also tied for the 22nd most in a match in program history and tied for eighth in the rally-scoring era.
  • Fellow senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott had her best match of the season as well, earning a season-high 21 kills on a .333 clip, adding 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. 
  • Stepping up on the right side, junior pin hitter Jillian Neal had a season-high 13 kills, hitting .303. This is the second match in her career with double-digit kills, first of the season. 
  • Redshirt sophomore setter Brynn Covell notched her first career double-double with 29 assists and 14 digs, both of which were career highs. This is the seventh match of her career with double-digit digs. She also led all players in aces with three.
  • Sharing setting duties, senior Sydney Henry had 28 assists and eight digs.
  • On defense, sophomore libero Faith Frame had 12 digs, her fourth match this season with 10 or more digs.
  • This is the second win for Sun Devil Athletics against Texas State this season. Sun Devil Soccer beat Texas State 5-1 in San Marcos last month. Sun Devil Football will face the Bobcats on Saturday in Tempe.


Set one: Texas State 26, ASU 24
With some early Sun Devil errors, the Bobcats jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but a roll shot from Parrott got the sideout and sparked a run of five that saw two more kills from her to take the 8-7 lead. Texas State was able to take back the lead at 14-13 until Miller’s sharp-cross kill tied it back up. The teams went back and forth until Arizona State trailed by two, 19-17, and called a timeout. With a hard-hit kill from Miller and a block by the Neal sisters, the Sun Devils were able to score a pair to get within one, down 20-19. A big swing from Presley capped off a 3-0 run for ASU to get back in front at 23-22, forcing a Texas State timeout. The Bobcats got the sideout after the break, scoring again after that to get to set point, 24-23. The set went into extra points after an off-speed shot from Parrott tied it up. However, Texas State was able to get the win on back-to-back kills, 26-24. Despite the set loss, ASU out-hit the home team .222 to .184 in this frame. 

Set two: ASU 30, Texas State 28
The two teams kept it close to start the second set, with an ace from Colby Neal tying it at 5-5. Back-to-back kills from Parrott and Miller evened the set again at 9-9. The Bobcats scored three in a row to go up 14-11 until kills from Miller and Colby Neal made it a one-point game, 14-13. Another run of three for Texas State pushed the home team up to a 17-13 lead. However, Arizona State bounced back with a big 6-0 run to take the 19-17 lead with kills from Parrott and Presley, an ace from Colby Neal and a block from Lomigora and Parrott. An 11th kill from Parrott and a Bobcat error made it a three-point advantage, 22-19. A 3-1 Texas State run got the set back within one with ASU up 24-23, calling a timeout at set point to try to stop the momentum, but the home team evened it up at 24-24. The Sun Devils fought off three Bobcats set points to win the set 30-28 on a 3-0 run that saw two kills from Jillian Neal.

Set three: Texas State 25, ASU 20
Back-to-back kills from Jillian Neal aided a 4-0 ASU run to take an early 4-1 advantage. Texas State scored four-straight points to tie it at 10-10, a kill from Miller ending the run. It was back and forth for a while from there until the Bobcats took three points in a row to go up 15-13. After more point trading, an error from the home team tied it at 18-18. Two kills in a row from Jillian Neal finally put ASU back on top at 20-19. However, coming out of a timeout, Texas State scored six in a row to win the set, 25-20.

Set four: ASU 25, Texas State 19
The trend of close sets continued to start the fourth frame, with Texas State slightly leading to begin but not able to create separation. An ace from Covell tied it at 8-8, but the back-and-forth play continued. A long rally that saw a pancake from Frame went the Sun Devils’ way, giving them a 10-9 lead. Parrott’s kill down the line made it a 3-0 run for ASU, up 15-12 heading into the media timeout. Arizona State tacked on two more before a sideout from Texas State, but Parrott found the deep court to get the serve back and make it 18-13. Covell’s third ace of the match pushed the lead to 21-15, forcing a Bobcat timeout. An overpass kill got the Sun Devils to set point, 24-18, but an error delayed the win a point. Jillian Neal got the kill to win 25-19 and force a fifth set.


Set five: ASU 15, Texas State 9
The match was tight to start, ASU with an early 5-3 lead off a kill from Parrott. Another kill from Parrott made it a 7-5 lead, bringing a timeout from the home team. Back-to-back kills for Miller got the advantage to 11-8 for the Sun Devils. It became a run of four after a tool from Jillian Neal and Miller’s 27th kill, up 13-8. Fittingly, Miller got the kill and a new career high on match point to win 15-9.

Up next
Arizona State will face Incarnate Word on Friday at noon MST/2 p.m. CDT in Strahan Arena to conclude ASU's time at the Texas State Invitational. There will be no live stream, but there will be live stats.