TEMPE – In the home opener, No. 7 Sun Devil Volleyball fell to UC Davis (19-25, 20-25, 25-21, 22-25) on Thursday night at Desert Financial Arena to start the Snyder-Park Classic.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (5-2) suffered its third home loss in head coach JJ Van Niel four seasons against UC Davis (3-3).
- Junior opposite Noemie Glover led all players in kills with 19. This was her fourth match this season with double-digit kills. She also had eight digs and four blocks.
- Reaching a career milestone tonight, senior middle blocker Ella Lomigora reached 300 career blocks. She had four in the match, tied for the team best with Glover.
- Junior libero Faith Frame notched 13 digs, the only Sun Devil in double figures. This was her fourth match reaching double-digit digs.
- Another Sun Devil in double figures in kills was junior outside hitter Una Vajagić with 12, her fifth time with double-digit kills. She added six digs and three blocks.
Set one: UC Davis 25, ASU 19
UC Davis took an early 7-2 lead, causing Arizona State to use its first timeout. Coming off the timeout, the Sun Devils went on a 3-0 run with kills from graduate outside hitter Aniya Clinton and Vajagić, cutting the Aggies’ lead to 7-5. The teams passed points back and forth, but a three-point run extended the Aggies’ lead 14-8. After three-consecutive points from ASU, UC Davis used its first timeout at 17-14. The Aggies extended their lead with a three-point run, forcing the Sun Devils to call their second timeout at 21-15. Despite UC Davis using its final timeout at 23-19, ASU couldn’t catch up and the Aggies won the first set, 25-19.
Set two: UC Davis 25, ASU 20
The teams traded points to start the second frame and were tied up at 4-4 before the Aggies took a two-point lead. A 4-0 run, with kills from Glover and Clinton, gave the Sun Devils the lead, 9-7. With back-and-forth play, the teams found themselves tied at 13 apiece, but going into the media timeout, the Aggies led 15-13. A successful coach’s challenge brought the Maroon and Gold within one at 16-15. With the Aggies leading 21-18, the Sun Devils called their first timeout of the set. After a three-point run, UC Davis was at set point and won the second set, 25-20.
Set three: ASU 25, UC Davis 21
A solo block from Vajagić followed by another block from Glover and Lomigora gave the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead to start the third set. UC Davis called an early timeout at 4-1 following a kill from Glover and an Aggies error. ASU extended its lead, 9-4, with a kill and an ace from junior middle blocker Zoey Burgess. A 4-0 run from UC Davis slowed Arizona State's momentum, but with a kill from Clinton, the Maroon and Gold kept a two-point lead. A quick kill from Burgess and a pancake save from Frame extended the Sun Devils’ lead, 14-11. A 4-1 Aggies run tied the score at 16 all, then they took the lead at 20-18, forcing the Sun Devils to use their first timeout. A kill from Glover and a block from Burgess and Vajagić tied the set at 22-22, causing the Aggies to use a timeout. A kill from Vajagić and an error from UC Davis brought Arizona State to set point, and a kill from junior opposite Kiylah Presley secured the set, 25-22.
Set four: UC Davis 25, ASU 22
The teams started the fourth set neck-and-neck until an ace from freshman setter Živa Labinjan gave the Sun Devils a one-point lead, 5-4. The Aggies responded with a 3-0 run, but a solo block from senior setter Isabella Costantini and an ace from Vajagić tied the set at 7-7. A 10-2 scoring run from UC Davis made it 17-10 and saw both of ASU’s timeouts. Coming out of the second timeout, Arizona State went on a four-point run thanks to a block from Vajagić and Lomigora and consecutive kills from Glover, forcing the Aggies to call a break at 17-14. The teams traded points, but the Aggies held onto their lead, winning the set, 25-21
Up next
The Sun Devils will take on the No. 24 Oregon Ducks on Friday at 6 p.m. MST to continue the Snyder-Park Classic.
Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening statement:
“They (UC Davis) were on it and we couldn't get them on serve receive. They were consistent the whole night and they did a nice job offensively and we couldn't slow them down.”
On how special it is to see the fans back in Desert Financial Arena and the new renovations:
“It's great. I saw it for the first time on Wednesday, it's great getting the renovation. We’ve got great fan support and it was loud in there. I’m just disappointed how we performed for our fans because we love them coming out, it's a big deal. We feel like we have a home court advantage, but tonight we didn't play that way.”
Junior libero Faith Frame
On improving passing in order to improve offense:
“Just focusing on putting our setters in a better position. I think we could have passed a little bit better, put her more on the net so she could run all three options or all two options. And then, I also just think it just wasn't our night. That's all right, we're going to come back better, so it's all right.”
On getting to play tomorrow despite the loss:
“It's great. I think this should light a fire in us, and we should come back harder tomorrow and ready to go. I'm upset and I'm ready to fight tomorrow. So I think this will just light a fire under us, and we're going to come back ready to fight tomorrow.”
Senior setter Isabella Costantini
On the message among the team after a loss:
“Just understanding that games like this are going to happen, we're not going to be perfect the entire time, and just being able to be confident in one another is something that we talked about in between sets. Trusting that we know how to do it. I think that our conversation is mainly about saying, ‘OK, how can we learn from this and grow out of this and still be able to trust each other and come back tomorrow even stronger?’ I just think it's resetting pretty quick and keeping the trust that we individually know how to do it and we can trust each other to get back tomorrow.”
On adjustments she’ll make going into the next game:
“I think as a setter, I’m just going to keep trying to find our offense. We have middles who are very capable of scoring, so keep finding the middles and going on serving runs, which is something that we lacked. We've been doing a really good job in serving, and that's something that we've been putting an emphasis on in our gym, and I think today we kind of lacked a little bit.”
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