AUSTIN, Texas—The No. 22 Arizona State volleyball team fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 2 seeded Texas, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22, on Friday night at Gregory Gym, capping the Sun Devils’ second 20-win season in the last three years.
ASU finishes the 2014 campaign with a 20-14 mark, and a 9-11 record in Pac-12 conference competition. Texas, who moves on to Sweet 16, improves to 25-2 on the year.
“This is a special group,” head coach Jason Watson said. “These last three years have been the most successful years in the history of Arizona State. We’re very fortunate and very proud of our athletes for the work they’ve done. That change has come on the heels of Shannan [McCready]. Her influence on this program is not reflected in the box score, but it’s certainly reflected in the quality of the athletes that we have here and their deep commitment to being better each and every day.”
Senior Shannan McCready joined the Sun Devils as a setter in 2011, when the program saw a five-year low of just nine wins, and led ASU as they rebounded to win a combined 59 matches with three NCAA appearances in the following seasons.
“As for The University of Texas, we wish them all the best,” Watson said. “They’re a really remarkable volleyball team and extremely well coached and certainly poised to make a nice run in the tournament from what we’ve seen. We’ve played against some particularly good teams this year within our conference, clearly, and outside of our conference, and they’re as good as any team that we’ve played this year.”
This marked the first time ASU went to three consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament since ASU went four straight from 1992-95. The Sun Devils also picked up 20-win seasons twice in a three-year span for the first time since ASU won 23 in 1992 and 20 in 1993.
In 2014, the Sun Devils bested four ranked opponents, No. 17 Hawaii (Aug. 30), No. 9 USC (Sept. 26), No. 11 Oregon (Oct. 24), and No. 17 UCLA (Nov. 26), the most in a single season in Watson’s tenure.
Standout junior Macey Gardner, ASU’s second three-time All-Pac-12 honoree in program history, stamped her name all over the record books, with 594 kills this season for No. 2 in the single-season book, joining her No. 3 mark of 577 from 2012, and her 2013 mark of 506, which is at No. 7.
The Gilbert, Ariz., native tied the rally scoring school record with 30 kills in ASU’s Pac-12 conference opener at Arizona on Sept. 24, and recorded 29 kills at Washington State on Nov. 21, where she also set the rally scoring school record for points in a single match with 33.0.
So far in her career, Gardner has eight matches in the single-game top-10, or 27 kills or higher, and also has six matches listed in single-game point totals, or 29.0 or higher.
Gardner ended 2014 at No. 4 in the career kills list with 1,677, three away from Tammy Webb’s (1983-86) mark of 1679, and 194 kills away from the school record of 1,871, set by Christine Garner (1992-95). Gardner is also 56 kills away from becoming the 17th Sun Devil to record 1000 kills.
ASU neared its team blocks record with the road win over the Oregon Ducks, recording 21.0 for the first time since 2009 when ASU recorded 21.5 in their five-set win over Cincinnati. In the Oregon win, Mercedes Binns and Bree Bailey had nine blocks apiece, while Macey totaled eight, and Whitney Follette added seven.
Freshman libero Halle Harker made a statement in her first season with the Sun Devils, setting the freshman record for digs on back-to-back nights. Harker broke Sydney Donahue’s 2004 record of 30 when ASU hosted Oregon State on Nov. 13, when she recorded 33, and then followed on Nov. 15 with 34 when ASU hosted Oregon.
In just her second season with the Sun Devils, setter Bianca Arellano has moved into the all-time assists top-9, her two-year mark of 2,516 sitting at No. 8. Arellano’s 2014 total of 1,417 sits at No. 5 in the single-season record book.
On the academic side, the Sun Devils saw a record eight selections to the Pac-12 All-Academic team, headlined by Shannan McCready and Kizzy Willey, who were named to the first-team. Genevieve Pirotte was named to the second team, while Arellano, Bailey, Follette, Gardner, and Andi Lowrance earned honorable mention accolades.
At home at Wells Fargo Arena, ASU welcomed three top crowds in coach Watson’s tenure, including a record 4,185 fans in the match against Washington on Oct. 17. That match also saw a student-section record of 1,235. On Nov. 13, ASU hosted 3,667, the No. 3 attendance since 2008, and the home finale against Arizona on Nov. 28 marked the No. 4 attendance number at 3,287.
The Sun Devils were ranked in the AVCA Division I volleyball poll for each week of the regular season for the first time to 1996.
ASU returns to action in the spring of 2015 with the program’s second sand volleyball season, slated to begin in March.
ASU Top-10 Career Kills
1. Christine Garner, 1992-95, 1871
2. Sarah Reeves, 2007-10, 1796
3. Tammy Webb, 1983-86, 1679
4. Macey Gardner, 2012-present, 1677
5. Amanda Burbridge, 1997-00, 1597
6. Christy Nore, 1985-88, 1517
7. Valentina Vega, 1982-83, 85-86, 1392
8. Jami Coughlin, 1998-01, 1360
9. Margie Giordano, 2005-08, 1312
10. Lisa Stuck, 1980-83, 1296
ASU Top-10 Career Assists
1. Regina Stahl, 1984-87, 5180
2. Cheryl Anglin, 2000-03, 4296
3. Marina Mercer, 2006-09, 3680
4. Jennifer Helfich, 1989-92, 2956
5. Noelle Fridrich, 1986-89, 2731
6. Jolynn Faatulu, 1995-98, 2730
7. Tiffannie Johnson-Gates, 1990-94, 2698
8. Bianca Arellano, 2013-present, 2516
9. Tracy Heflin, 1993-96, 2238
ASU Single-Season Top-10 Kills:
1. 599—Amanda Burbridge (2000)
2. 594—Macey Gardner (2014)*
3. 577—Macey Gardner (2012)
4. 555—Mindy Gowell (1990)
5. 523—Tammy Webb (1985)
6. 522—Erica Wilson (2012)
7. 506—Macey Gardner (2013)
8. 497—Christy Nore (1988)
9. 495—Christine Garner (1993)
10. 489—Tammy Webb (1986)
ASU Single-Season Top-10 Assists:
1. 1482—Alison Palmer (2012)
2. 1452—Cheryl Anglin (2000)
3. 1450—Regina Stahl (1985)
4. 1444—Noelle Fridrich (1988)
5. 1417—Bianca Arellano (2014)
6. 1413—Reginal Stahl (1986)
7. 1277—Marina Mercer (2007)
8. 1255—Regina Stahl (1987)
9. 1250—Jennifer Helfrich (1992)
10. 1228—Jolynn Faatulu (1998)
ASU Single-Season Top-10 Digs
1. 742--Sydney Donahue (2006** Pac-12 Record)
2. 640--Sydney Donahue (2007)
3. 628--Sydney Donahue (2005)
4. 619--Stephanie Preach (2012)
5. 610--Stephanie Preach (2011)
6. 601--Mindy Gowell (1990)
7. 556--Christy Nore (1988)
8. 550--Stephanie Preach (2013)
9. 538--Kelly Plaisted (1990)
10. 521—Halle Harker (2014)