Our State: #13 Volleyball Beats Arizona Behind Career Highs
See the full match recap with quotes, the box score, team stats and match leaders.
TEMPE – Behind a career high in kills from Geli Cyr and massive dig totals from the team, No. 13 Sun Devil Volleyball beat Arizona in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 31-29, 25-15) in front of the fourth-largest crowd in program history at Desert Financial Arena on Wednesday night.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (15-2, 4-1 Big 12) won its third straight in the rivalry matchup against Arizona (12-4, 1-4 Big 12) and third straight on the year.
- This is the first matchup between the two schools in any sport this season, with ASU getting the first half point in the Territorial Cup Series.
- The Sun Devils had 93 digs in the win, the most by a Big 12 team this season in a match.
- With her best numbers of the season, graduate setter Argentina Ung notched her 24th double-double of her career, fifth of the season, with 42 assists (ties season high) and a career-high 20 digs. This was her second time this season with 40 or more assists in a match this season.
- Graduate libero Mary Shroll had 32 digs, a season high. This was her fifth match this season with 20-plus digs and her first eclipsing 30. This was her 19th-straight match with double-digit digs. Her total is the second-highest by a Big 12 player this season, one off of the highest total of 33 from Ella Larkin from Kansas State.
- Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr reached a new career high with 23 kills. This is the highest kill total by a Sun Devil this season and the most since Marta Levinska reached it last year. Cyr had double figures in just the second set. She notched double-digit kills for the 11th time this season. Additionally, she had her third double-double of the year with 17 digs, matching her season high.
- Graduate outside hitter Shania Cromartie had 12 kills, her sixth match in double figures this season. She was one dig away from a double-double with nine.
- The middle blockers had a strong outing for Arizona State. Savannah Kjolhede led the blocking effort with four to go with her seven kills. Claire Jeter had nine kills and a pair of blocks.
- Coming off the bench in the third set, junior opposite Bailey Miller had six kills on 10 attempts with no errors.
- Attendance was 4,630, the fourth-largest crowd all-time at Arizona State.
Set One: ASU 25, Arizona 20
The Sun Devils started off this closely-contested battle of a set between the Wildcats tied 9-9. With the help of a monster block by Jeter and kills by Cromartie and Cyr, ASU found themselves up 15-11 followed by a timeout. Cyr quickly added to the Sun Devil's lead with two kills in a row to go up 18-11, Arizona called a timeout shortly after to regroup. Not stopping there, Cyr added another pair of kills to give ASU a 21-15 lead. Cromartie's kill brought ASU to set point at 24-19, the Sun Devils then took set one 25-20.
Set Two: Arizona 25, ASU 23
The Wildcats quickly went up 3-1 but with two kills by Cyr, ASU got within one 4-5. Cyr rallied on two more kills; however, Arizona kept the scoring close after tying it 14-14. ASU added one to go up 15-14, a timeout was then called by the visitors. The Wildcats tied it again 18-18 as they continued to fight back to reach a 23-21 lead over the Sun Devils. After going down by three, ASU fought off two set points to get within one at 24-23 with the help of a kill by Kjolhede. After a timeout by Arizona, the Sun Devils couldn't capitalize and the Wildcats took set two 25-23.
Set Three: ASU 31, Arizona 29
The third set began with a rapid 6-2 lead for Arizona as it continued to build off its momentum from the last set. After ASU called for a timeout, the Sun Devils fought back with a 6-0 run to take the 8-7 lead. After some back and forth, ASU stepped up to a 12-10 lead. Not long after, Arizona found a rhythm and reached a 22-19 lead over ASU. With the refusal to quit, ASU ferociously fought back for a 23-22 lead, and Arizona then called a timeout to steady the adrenaline. Cyr got a kill that carried the Sun Devils to reach set point 24-23. Both schools refused to go down quietly and battled into extra points. Arizona State had six set points and Arizona had one, but ASU came out victorious 31-39 with a pivotal kill by Cyr.
Set Four: ASU 25, Arizona 15
The final set started off close but ASU managed to tack on a 10-6 lead with a series of kills from Cyr and Cromartie, and Arizona followed with a timeout. The Sun Devils added on six more including kills by Cyr, Jeter, and two from Miller to make it 16-9, forcing the Wildcats to call for another timeout. ASU advanced to a 23-15 lead over Arizona thanks to kills by Jeter and Kjolhede. A kill by Ung got the Sun Devils to match point, which ended in a set four win for ASU, 25-15.
Up Next
Arizona State will hit the road to face Texas Tech this Saturday. It will be live on ESPN+ at 11 a.m. MST/1 p.m. CDT.
Final: 3-1 Win
Quick stats: