TEMPE – Behind a blistering .433 hitting percentage, No. 10 Sun Devil Volleyball returned home and defeated UCF in three sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-11) on Friday night in Desert Financial Arena.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (17-4, 8-2 Big 12) beat UCF (11-9, 3-7 Big 12) for the Sun Devils’ fourth win in a row in this series with the Knights, all sweeps. This was Arizona State’s seventh sweep this season.
- ASU had its highest hitting percentage of the season with .433 while holding UCF to a .034 clip, the third-lowest of the season. It was the seventh time holding an opponent to a sub-.100 hitting percentage.
- Leading all players in kills was sophomore outside hitter Maéva Schalk with 13, matching her career high. She set a new personal best in hitting percentage with a blistering .435. This was her fourth time this season reaching double figures, second match in a row. She also had six digs.
- The two other pin hitters also hit over .400 tonight and reached double-digit kills. Senior opposite Noemie Glover had 12 kills on a .480 clip, her 15th match in a row in double figures. She also had four blocks. Junior outside hitter Una Vajagić notched 11 kills while hitting .474, adding eight digs and four aces, the latter matching her season high. This was her sixth match with two or more aces this season, third time with three or more.
- Senior setter Isabella Costantini handled the setting duties tonight, notching her third double-double of the season with a season-high 39 assists and 10 digs, both of which led all players..
- Leading the blocking effort was junior middle blocker Zoey Burgess with six, which was a match high. This was her fourth match with six or more blocks. She also had five kills.
Set One: ASU 25, UCF 14
ASU started the set off strong with a kill from Glover followed by an ace from Vajagić and a monster block by Ella Lomigora, putting them in the lead, 3-0. The Knights earned some points with a few kills to make the score 10 apiece. However, after a 3-0 run the Sun Devils took the advantage to make the score 13-10, leading the Knights to use their first timeout. An ace by Vajagić and a kill by Glover advanced ASU to 15-10 going into a media timeout. A 7-2 run from Arizona State saw several kills by Schalk and Glover and aces from Vajagić. As ASU and UCF exchanged a few more points, two kills from Burgess and Constantini led UCF to take its last timeout. After a long rally, ASU closed off the set with a kill from Vajagić, winning the set 25-14.
Set two: ASU 25, UCF 16
The second set started off with both teams exchanging points one after another, leading the game to be tied several times early on. A 5-1 run from ASU gave it the advantage, bringing the score to 10-7. The Knights fought back with a few points of their own but kills from Glover and Schalk and blocks from Burgess and Glover led the Sun Devils to a three-point advantage, 15-12. After a media timeout, the Maroon and Gold attacked with two kills from Constantini and Schalk causing UCF to use its first timeout. The Sun Devils continued to advance the score with a 6-2 run, forcing the Knights to take their last timeout. Constantini won a joust to put ASU one point away from winning the set. The Knights responded with an immediate block but it was not enough to stop the Sun Devils from winning the set, 25-16, with a kill from Glover.
Set three: ASU 25, UCF 11
ASU welcomed the third set with a 7-1 run, forcing UCF to call its first timeout. An error from Arizona State and a kill from UCF allowed two points for the Knights. The Sun Devils responded with a 7-3 run to bring the score to 15-6. An error from UCF, a kill from Lomigora and two kills from Schalk led the Knights to call their first timeout. After the timeout, UCF fought with a kill but ASU quickly fired back with a 5-0 run to make the score 24-10. The Knights responded with a kill but a tool from Burgess won the set, 25-11.
Up next
Arizona State hosts Houston on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST on ESPN+. It is the Southwest Showdown match.
Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening statement:
“It was a really fun night, Halloween night. The crowd was great. They were really fun. But, I’m proud of the kids; it was a nice rebound after a tough loss. We executed in pretty much every phase really, really well. So it was nice to come out strong, especially since we had a couple of injuries. I had to switch a couple of things around a little bit and the kids responded really well.”
On how the team stays consistent defensively:
“I’ve got great assistant coaches and associate head coaches that do a really good job with their game planning and also helping us prepare for it. And then the players did a nice job executing it, and we did a nice job serving. We missed maybe a few more than we’d normally like, but we were knocking them out and getting them out of our system. That makes it a lot easier to defend.”
On having six service aces and what he liked from the serves tonight:
“I found that at the beginning, we were putting a lot of pressure on them. As I mentioned, I think we missed a couple more than maybe we’d normally like, but we were getting them knocked out, we were getting them in for the most part. I thought our servers executed our game plan really well. We’re doing a nice job hitting seams, finding seams, mixing some depth and just causing a little chaos. It was good. And they were aggressive. I like it when our servers are aggressive. They did a nice job being aggressive.”
Senior setter Isabella Costantini
On how it feels to bounce back after loss to BYU
“We just want more. I think that loss made us have that urge to want more. We just don’t want to have that feeling again, so I think this week was really important for us in practice. Every single practice we showed up and we were put in situations of pressure so that we can execute and do well in moments of pressure. I think we’re all just craving so much more now. We’re ready for whatever comes in front of us.”
On running a 5-1 offensive system
“We got used to the 5-2. With Elle and her injury, I think the 5-1 is different for me personally because I have to play and be big in the front row. But everyone has been so great in giving me the trust and saying ‘You got it! We trust you to do your work.’ It’s definitely different, but I think we’re all ready for whatever comes.”
Sophomore outside Maéva Schalk
On how comfortable she is in the offense:
“I think since I’m back, we have practiced a lot to get our connection better and better. Right now it's really good with everyone.”
On how their wins depend on their communication
“In practice this week, we worked on it a lot. On this communication, this huddle and everything. And I think it's helped us a lot. It’s showing in the game.”
On limiting UCF’s aces:
“I think our pressure in serving and serve receive was really good since the start of the game, so it helped us build our rhythm.”
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