TEMPE – Despite dropping the first set, No. 8 Sun Devil Volleyball remains undefeated at home after defeating No. 21 BYU in four (17-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-21) at Desert Financial Arena on Friday night.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (20-3, 11-1 Big 12) has now won five in a row against BYU (18-7, 6-7 Big 12), completing the season sweep over the Cougars.
- Reaching 20 wins, the Sun Devils have notched their 14th 20-win season, third in a row. For head coach JJ Van Niel, this was his 15th ranked win.
- ASU improves to 11-0 at home this season. Additionally, this was the seventh ranked win of the year for the Sun Devils, improving to 7-2.
- With 11 blocks tonight, this was the 14th match with double-digit blocks this season. The Sun Devils have had double-digit blocks in nine of the 12 Big 12 matches.
- Senior outside hitter Bailey Miller led the team with 20 kills, her fourth time in her career reaching that mark. She hit .390 and this was her eighth match in a row reaching double figures. She also added seven digs.
- Sophomore libero Faith Frame had a team-best 17 digs, her 13th match in double figures this season.
- Reaching double-digit kills for the 12th match in a row was junior opposite Noemie Glover with 11. She also had six blocks.
- The middle blockers showed up big in the win. Graduate Colby Neal had six blocks to tie with Glover to lead all players, adding eight digs on a .500 clip as well. She has had five or more blocks in 15 matches this season. Junior Ella Lomigora chipped in five blocks as well.
- Both setters had well-rounded outings. Senior Sydney Henry had 24 assists, nine digs and two aces. Redshirt sophomore Brynn Covell notched 18 assists and seven digs.
- Attendance tonight was 4,359, which is the second-highest number this season in Tempe. It also is the eighth highest in the ASU record book. This is the fourth match this season with more than 4,000 in attendance, sixth over 3,000.
Set one: BYU 25, ASU 17
The Sun Devils started off strong and took an early 4-1 lead. The Cougars went on a three-point run before a kill from Colby Neal flipped the momentum. ASU responded with four unanswered points, causing BYU to call its first timeout of the night at 13-8. Following the timeout, the Cougars put together a 10-0 run, bringing two timeouts from the Sun Devils during that stretch. A kill from Miller ended BYU’s point streak, leaving ASU trailing 18-14. Play continued back and forth before the Cougars ultimately won the first set, 25-17.
Set two: ASU 28, BYU 26
ASU took another early 5-1 lead to start the second frame with a kill from Miller and strong blocking from Glover. A three-point run for BYU tied the game up at 8-8, but an ace from Sydney Henry brought the Sun Devils up 10-9. Competitive play from both teams kept it close. ASU called its first timeout of the set at 17-14, after back-to-back points from BYU. A block from Lomigora and Tatum Parrott ended the Cougars’ point streak and brought the Sun Devils within two. A kill from Miller and a block from Colby Neal and Glover found the Sun Devils down by one, before a kill from Glover tied the game at 20-20, forcing BYU to call a timeout. After trading two-point runs, the score was tied up again at 22-22, and the Cougars used their final timeout. A block from Glover brought the Sun Devils to set point, 24-23. BYU took the set to extras by tying at 24-24, but a kill from Glover pushed ASU to a second set point at 25-24. BYU forced another tie at 26-26, but a serving error from the Cougars and a block from Colby Neal pushed the Sun Devils to a 28-26 win.
Set three: ASU 25, BYU 23
To start the third set, the teams swapped points back and forth and were tied at 5-5. A three-point run from BYU was ended by a block from Kiylah Presley and Lomigora, bringing ASU to a one-point deficit, 8-7. The Sun Devils took a 14-13 lead after a four-point run. Following a media timeout, the teams were tied up at 15 all. Points continued to be traded until two unanswered points from ASU caused BYU to use a timeout at 19-17. The Sun Devils used their first timeout of the set after the Cougars forced a tie at 19-19. A kill from Miller and an ace from Henry brought the Sun Devils up 21-19, causing the Cougars to call their final timeout. The Sun Devils were at set point after a kill from Colby Neal, and a kill from Glover won them the set, 25-23.
Set four: ASU 25, BYU 21
The Maroon and Gold took another 5-1 lead, with three kills from Miller and another from Glover. BYU called an early timeout at 9-5 after unanswered kills from both Lomigora and Parrott. The Sun Devils continued to build their lead to five with an ace from Jillian Neal and kills from Miller and Parrott, 15-10. The Cougars called their final timeout at 17-12, following another kill from Parrott. Kills from Miller and Colby Neal, as well as a service error from BYU, brought ASU to match point, 24-18. Following an unsuccessful challenge from Arizona State that caused a short break, another serving error from the Cougars clinched a 25-21 win for the Sun Devils.
Up next
Arizona State faces off against rival Arizona at home on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. MST and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening statement:
“What a crowd. That was a fun environment. It was super loud in there and I know our team fed off it; thank you to everyone for coming out. It was a nice match. We fought even when we weren’t playing our best. We gave up too many points on the reception, but they’re the best serving team in the conference. We did a nice job finding out ways to win; it’s good to see.”
On Faith Frame’s defensive impact and growth throughout the season:
“(She’s) worked hard on a few things we’ve asked her do to defensively. She’s found her groove right now, which is nice as we head toward the end of the season. Early in the year, balls blasted all day long at you, you get tons of reps, and with our block and defense, she gets less opportunities to take balls in matches than she’s used to. She is finally understanding what that’s like and she’s worked hard at it. The few things we want her to do defensively, she was good at tonight.”
On senior outside hitter Bailey Miller’s maturity in game:
“(Miller) has really matured as an athlete. I thought it was impressive. She would tell you this wasn’t her best passing match, but she found another level as an attacker. The first set, she was pressing too much as an attacker. Once she got into a rhythm, there was no stopping her. It was nice to see after (Glover) had an off night, at least from a hitting efficiency standpoint. It was great to see (Miller) step up and (get) 20 kills. I didn’t know she had that many kills.”
Senior Outside Hitter Bailey Miller
On maintaining good composure in tough serving situations:
“After that first set I had to look deep within myself and said, ‘Hey I was in this position before we played BYU the first time.’ They’re a great serving team and not that I am bad passer, I needed to have that reset. I told the team that I wouldn’t throw myself a pity party, I don’t like you all to worry about me. I’m taking that mental reset and getting that ball high, it doesn’t need to be a perfect pass. Overall, relying on my other skills. My attacking was there. If it’s in the middle of the court, we’re a good medium. If they’re able to set me and I’m hitting well, I don’t need to be perfect.”
On the arena’s environment:
“It’s always super fun no matter where we go (to have a big crowd). Even when we were in Texas, when we’re at BYU, having a lot of fans make the game more fun even if they’re cheering against you. We were hearing BYU loud when we are serving things or when they’re getting good plays. Overall, it just makes a fun environment, and we always want to play in those environments. It gets us ready for the tournament because we know no matter where we go, if we host or if we’re away, it’s going to be a big crowd. It gets us ready and it’s fun.”
Graduate Middle Blocker Colby Neal
On the large crowd and interactions from the fans
“It’s always really fun just to have a high-energy environment. It’s really cool that our fans stepped up, because BYU did have a lot of people, which kind of surprised me, but it was cool to see both sides battling to see who could be louder. After the match, we did autographs, and it was great just seeing all the young girls, because that used to be us coming to all the college games and looking up to the college girls, so it’s just fun to be able to talk to everybody and have that high energy and connection there.”
On the diversity of the team’s offense
“The beauty of our system is that we have weapons everywhere. When I look to my left and I see Bailey (Miller), and I look to my right and I see Noemie (Glover). I would hate to block us right now. Whatever the other team chooses could likely be wrong, depending on where the ball goes, so when the blockers are committed to other people, that gets me excited, but at the same time, when they’re committed to me, and I see that Bailey has a wide open net, it makes me smile before she even hits the ball, because I just know what is going to happen.”