PROVO, Utah – Despite a strong start, No. 8 Sun Devil Volleyball fell at No. 11 BYU in four sets (20-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-23) in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (16-4, 7-2 Big 12) fell to BYU (17-1, 9-0 Big 12) and is now 7-2 against ranked teams this season. The loss snapped a seven-match win streak for ASU and five-match win streak against BYU.
- Senior opposite hitter Noemie Glover surpassed 1,000 career kills in the match. She earned 13 for her 14th match in a row in double figures. She also added five blocks and six digs.
- Sophomore outside hitter Maéva Schalk earned a career-high 13 kills. It was her third time this season reaching double figures in six matches played. She also had five digs and two blocks.
- Leading the Sun Devil defense was junior libero Faith Frame with 13 digs. She has reached double-digit digs in the last four matches in a row.
- Other contributors were senior middle blocker Ella Lomigora and junior outside hitter Una Vajagić. Lomigora had five blocks and a season-high seven kills, while Vajagić notched nine kills and eight digs.
- Leading the setters was senior Isabella Costantini, who had 27 assists, five digs and two aces.
Set one: ASU 25, BYU 20
Arizona State took control early with a pair of Glover kills to go up 4-1. BYU closed the gap a bit until Costantini served ASU on a 4-0 run to lead 13-8, bringing a timeout from the home team. Back-to-back kills from Lomigora put the Sun Devils up 15-9 heading into the media timeout, after which the Cougars were able to score a couple until a Schalk kill got the sideout at 16-11. Another run of four for Arizona State was capped off by a block from junior middle Zoey Burgess and freshman setter Elle Mottola, pushing it to 21-13. BYU scored four in a row to close the gap to 22-19, but a serve error got the sideout. A kill then a block from Lomigora won the set, 25-20.
Set two: BYU 25, ASU 14
The Cougars opened up the second set by scoring three points in a row until a kill from Lomigora got the sideout, 3-1. From there, it stayed close, neither team able to go on a big run. The setters took scoring into their own hands as a setter dump from Mottola followed by an ace from Costantini made it an 11-9 disadvantage. BYU earned three-straight points heading into the media timeout to make it 15-10. That turned into a run of five out of the break, forcing an ASU timeout. The Cougars had a 4-0 run to make the set out of reach, 22-12, and they’d hold on to win at 25-14.
Set three: BYU 25, ASU 19
An early run of three for BYU gave it the 6-3 lead until a kill from Schalk got the sideout. A 4-1 run for ASU tied it up at 9-9, capped off with a block from Lomigora and Schalk. It was back and forth until the Sun Devils scored three in a row with kills from Mottola and Schalk, making it 14-12. The Cougars responded with a run of their own, scoring four straight to lead 19-15. BYU kept the momentum to win, 25-19, and go up 2-1 in the match.
Set four: BYU 25, ASU 23
An ace from freshman Živa Labinjan gave Arizona State an early 4-2 lead. After BYU took the lead, an error tied it again, and the teams traded points from there until ASU scored three-straight points to lead 12-10 after a kill from graduate pin hitter Aniya Clinton. The Cougars broke away after six unanswered points to lead 18-14, forcing a Sun Devil timeout during that run. However, ASU took the momentum back with a 5-0 run to retake the lead, 19-18, with kills from Glover aiding the run. BYU got back on top at 21-20, forcing a timeout from Arizona State. But then kills from Glover and Schalk gave the Sun Devils another lead, 22-21, and brought out a Cougar timeout. The home team responded with three-straight points to win, 25-23, and take the match.
Up next
Arizona State returns home for matches against UCF on October 30 and Houston on November 1.
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