TEMPE – No. 12 Sun Devil Beach Volleyball split its duals on the first day of the Sparky Invitational at home, sweeping Ottawa - Arizona before falling to No. 13 Grand Canyon in a close 3-2 dual to close out the day.
The win over Ottawa was a complete sweep for the Sun Devils as every pair won their dual in straight sets. Senior Daniella Kensinger reached 75 career wins, and she is now one win away from moving into eighth place on the Sun Devil career wins leaderboard. Additionally, redshirt senior Ava Kirunchyk is now one win away from the 50 win mark.
The No. 1 duo of redshirt seniors Kirunchyk and Samaya Morin improved to 16-6 on the year after winning both of their matches today. That is a team-best pair total. Individually, Kirunchyk’s 17-6 record leads the Sand Devils.
Under head coach Kristin Glattfelder, the Sun Devils are undefeated against unranked opponents. Arizona State moves to 7-9 against ranked teams this year. At home, ASU fell to 5-1.
Game One: No. 12 ASU 5, OUAZ 0 /// Final Box
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over OUAZ (19-3), as the twos and fours each swept their matches. Kensinger collected her 75th career win with her victory with junior Addy White, the latter making her season debut. The second wave offered more of the same, as the every Sun Devil duo won their match in two sets for the dual sweep.
Game Two: No. 13 GCU 3, No. 12 ASU 2 /// Final Box
Senior McKenna Flaherty and junior Kristin Gilmour got things going with a sweep of the fours pair from GCU (12-10) to give the Sun Devils an early 1-0 lead, but the Lopes responded with a sweep of their own on the No. 2 court. From there, Arizona State battled, as Morin and Kirunchyk won their dual in two sets on the top court, but GCU tied it up after taking the match with a two-set win on the No. 5 court. It all came down to the No. 3 pairs, which went to a third set. Ultimately, Grand Canyon won 15-13 in that third set to take the dual.
Up next
The second and final day of the Sparky Invitational is on Saturday with Arizona State hosting FIU at 10 a.m. MST and No. 15 Stetson at 12 p.m. MST. The senior class will be honored prior to the FIU dual.
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