CINCINNATI – Senior opposite Noemie Glover had a season-high 23 kills to help No. 9 Sun Devil Volleyball to a 3-1 win (25-16, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20) at Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) bounced back with a win against Cincinnati (7-5, 0-2 Big 12) for its first conference win of the year. Head coach JJ Van Niel has not lost back-to-back matches in his career.
- ASU held Cincinnati to a .107 clip, compared to the Sun Devils’ .304. This was the sixth time that the Sun Devils have held their opponents to a sub-.200 clip.
- The Sun Devils had 12 blocks in the win. This was ASU’s fifth match with double-digit blocks this season.
- Leading all players in kills was senior opposite hitter Noemie Glover with 23 on a .354 clip. This was a season high for her and for any Sun Devil. This was Glover’s first time with 20-plus kills this season, fifth time in her career. Additionally, it was her seventh match in a row with double-digit kills. She also had a match-high seven blocks and nine digs. Her block total matches her season best.
- Junior outside hitter Una Vajagić had her seventh match in a row with double-digit kills, earning 14. She also had 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, all coming in the last five matches.
- Making her return to the front row for the first time this season was sophomore outside hitter Maéva Schalk. She notched 11 kills, a new career high. In her two matches she has played the front row, she has notched double-digit kills both times. Additionally, she had nine digs for a near double-double.
- Senior middle blocker Ella Lomigora had a balanced effort, earning six kills and six blocks.
- The setting duties were split between senior Isabella Costantini and freshman Elle Mottola. Costantini led the way in assists with 31, while Mottola chipped in 15.
Set one: ASU 25, Cincinnati 16
The Sun Devils lead early in the first set, a run of four pushing their lead to 9-4, capped off by a setter dump by Mottola. An 8-1 run for the Bearcats put them on top, 11-10, until a kill from graduate Aniya Clinton tied it back up. That kill sparked eight-straight points for ASU with Costantini serving, which included three blocks in a row and two overpass kills from Lomigora, to go up 18-11. The seventh block of the set came from Glover and Lomigora to make it 21-13. A hammer of a kill from Vajagić put her team at set point, 24-16, and an error from Cincinnati made it an ASU win, 25-16. The Bearcats hit -.107 in this set.
Set two: ASU 25, Cincinnati 15
Glover caught fire to start the second set, scoring on all of Arizona State’s first six points. However, the Bearcats scored seven in a row to lead 11-6, forcing an early Sun Devil timeout during that run. ASU responded with a 7-1 run with a few more blocks and a few more kills for Glover to get back on top, 15-14, heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, the Sun Devils added four more to the run with an ace from Schalk in that, pushing it to 19-14. With sophomore Ella Lewis serving, Arizona State scored six-straight points to close out the second set and win 25-15.
Set three: Cincinnati 25, ASU 22
A few Bearcat errors gave the Sun Devils an early 4-2 lead. The teams traded points for the first part of the set until Cincinnati scored five in a row to lead 18-14. A couple of kills from Lomigora closed the gap to 18-16. Then two kills from Glover and an ace from Vajagić tied it at 21-21. However, the late push came up short as the Bearcats won it 25-22.
Set four: ASU 25, Cincinnati 20
A few kills from Schalk early on helped Arizona State open up with a 5-1 lead. After some back and forth, Cincinnati scored four in a row to take the 12-10 lead. Kills from Schalk and Glover knotted it up at 13-13, but the Bearcats scored three-straight points to lead again, 16-13. The Sun Devils slowly chipped away, kills from Vajagić and Schalk driving the team. Then ASU was able to go on a 6-0 run with Lomigora serving to tie and then eventually close out the set, 25-20, to win the match.
Up next
Arizona State will be back home on October 4, hosting Iowa State at 2 p.m. MST live on ESPN.
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