LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 2 seed Sun Devil Volleyball’s NCAA Tournament run came to an end in the round of 16 after falling to No. 3 seed Creighton in four sets (24-26, 25-19, 13-25, 18-25) on Thursday afternoon.
Update on Dec. 13: Noemie Glover was named to the NCAA VB Lexington Regional All-Tournament Team.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (28-4) came up short to Creighton (28-5). ASU was in the regional semifinal for the second time under head coach JJ Van Niel (three seasons) and the fourth time in history.
- Junior opposite Noemie Glover led the team in kills with 17 on a .517 clip. She hit over .500 in all three NCAA Tournament matches. This was her 21st match in a row with double-digit kills.
- Two pins were one away from double digits in kills: senior outside hitter Bailey Miller and redshirt freshman opposite Kiylah Presley. Miller also added eight digs.
- Sophomore libero Faith Frame had a team-best 15 digs for her sixth match in a row in double figures.
- Senior setter Sydney Henry had a team-high 26 assists with six digs and an ace. Redshirt sophomore Brynn Covell had 16 assists, five digs and two aces.
Set one: Creighton 26, ASU 24
The Sun Devils trailed by a few early after the Bluejays went on a 3-0 run to lead 7-5. After some back and forth, Arizona State went on a 4-0 run behind two aces from Covell to take the 15-13 lead heading into the media timeout. The teams traded points for a few rallies until Creighton scored three in a row to regain the advantage, forcing an ASU timeout down 20-18. The Sun Devils responded with three-straight points of their own, going back up by one, 21-20, and bringing a Bluejays timeout. The run trading continued with Creighton earning three in a row again, taking back the lead at 23-21 and seeing Arizona State’s second timeout. Kills from Parrott and Glover extended the set to extra points, but the Bluejays took it, 26-24.
Set two: ASU 25, Creighton 19
An ace from Jillian Neal tied it early at 3-3 before Creighton later went on a 3- run to lead 7-4, a block from Presley and Lomigora ending that streak. A 4-1 ASU run made up completely of kills from Glover tied the set at 12-12. Two kills from Presley helped the Sun Devils score four in a row to make it a 17-14 lead. Presley stayed hot, getting her seventh kill to push it to 19-15, forcing a timeout from the Bluejays. Creighton cut the deficit to 20-18, bringing an ASU timeout. A Glover kill and a Bluejays error pushed the Sun Devils’ lead back up to 22-18 before a second timeout from the Bluejays. Glover’s 11th kill and two-straight blocks for Arizona State won the set at 25-19 to even up the match.
Set three: Creighton 25, ASU 13
Despite a few early kills from Miller and Parrott, Creighton took an early 10-3 lead after a run of five, forcing an early timeout from Arizona State during that run. The teams traded points for a long time, the Sun Devils not able to string together a run to cut into the lead, but the Bluejays put together five in a row to make it 21-10, bringing ASU’s second timeout during that stretch. The Sun Devils were unable to come back, falling 25-13.
Set four: Creighton 25, ASU 18
The Bluejays scored the first three points in the set before a kill from Miller and ace from Henry closed the gap to 3-2. After trading points, Creighton scored four in a row to make it 11-6 until a kill from Miller got the sideout. A kill from Colby Neal made it 14-10, but the Bluejays got the sideout for the 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Another run of three for Creighton made it 19-12 before Miller got the sideout with a kill. Despite three late kills from Glover, the Bluejays held on to win 25-18 and take the match.
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Quotes
Arizona State Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement…
“Hats off to Creighton, really clean volleyball. They put a lot of pressure on us from the serving line and we weren’t able to find the right answers.”
On the adjustment Creighton made in the third set...
“They just spun the rotation just slightly, and they were getting their really, really good servers on the line. They mixed up really well, and they got us in some trouble there. They were playing really clean volleyball, and we’re patient, and we block a ball, and they cover it, and they just kind of kept chipping away and chipping away. They’re really, really scrappy, so that was probably the big adjustment.”
On what surprised them about Creighton…
“Honestly, nothing. I mean, they played their game, and they’ve got some really nice players. Their middle we knew was going to be tough to stop, and 15 kills in four sets is pretty impressive. I thought we’d be able to get them in a little more trouble, which in the second set, we really did. We were getting them off the net, and it makes a big difference because then they have to become a little more reliant, but I don’t think there’s anything that surprised us. They’ve been playing great volleyball all year. They probably don’t get the credit because they’re not as tough of a conference, but they were really good in the preseason. I think in any conference, going undefeated is an impressive feat, and they did it, so I wouldn’t say there’s anything they did in particular was any different. They executed really, really well.”
Senior setter Sydney Henry
On momentum going to the third set…
“Yeah, for sure. There was definitely some momentum there and we made it known that we were gonna stay together and we were going to stay connected and we were going to use it in the third set. But like they said, Creighton came out, they punched us, but we wanted to punch back as well. definitely after that second set, we could use some momentum.”
On a defining moment from the season…
“There wasn’t one defining moment but I think we all kind of knew coming into this how bad we wanted to repeat this year and Noemie and I both coming in this year. We knew the history of ASU and I wanted to continue that legacy, so I think from the moment that we all stepped in there together, we knew what we wanted to do, how to get there, we knew it was going to take hard work and so I think just all along, that was the plan for us.”
Junior opposite Noemie Glover
On what was working for Noemie…
“I think Sydney was putting me in good positions to score. I think that was kind of the main reason that I'm able to find openings there, our passers were doing well to put the ball in good position, and then just seeing the floor and having diverse shot selection.”
On their successful season …
“I think in the summer, we did a lot of summer camps with younger players and I think just seeing how those players interacted with our younger people, being new people in the community, seeing how much the community cared for ASU and just volleyball in general. I think that kind of pushed the momentum throughout the season, you know, we'd see campers that came, they'd wear their shirts, and they'd just be so excited to, you, watch us play. I think that that is easy to play when you have like when people that are saying, you know, they're looking up to you or they're looking up to the team and just seeing how the younger players were interacting with our team in general, I think that that was just really fun to continue on and especially being at home and just being able to see all those kids from the summer and seeing what kids will come again this summer. I think that that was just really fun, and it's a big momentum push for all of us.“