Career Highs Not Enough To Outlast Beavers
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite career highs from two Sun Devils, Arizona State volleyball dropped the first match of the week at Oregon State in five sets (26-28, 25-16, 18-25, 29-27, 15-11).
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (1-6) played in its third five-set match of the season, falling to Oregon State (2-5). The Sun Devils struggled on serve receive, allowing 12 aces. However, ASU also tallied eight aces of its own.
- Freshman Marta Levinska set a new career high in kills with 20, beating her previous high by two. Her total was the highest by any player in the match and was her fifth time reaching double figures in kills. She had a .224 hitting percentage.
- Sophomore libero Annika Larson led the defensive with 26 digs, a new career best for her. She also had three aces and five assists.
- The setting duties were split between the two Sun Devil setters with freshman Ella Snyder leading the way with 34 along with her 15 assists for her fifth double-double. Sophomore Shannon Shields got her first start as a Sun Devil and tallied 13 assists, her highest total at ASU.
- Sophomore pin hitter Iman Isanovic had a double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs. She continues her streak of reaching double figures in kills in every match this season. This is also her fourth double-double of the season.
- Junior Paige Denton tallied 13 digs and two aces in the match. The aces total matches her career best.
- Sophomore middle blocker Kennedi Boyd earned seven total blocks, her fourth time this season tying her career high. She also had three kills.
- Senior middle blocker Megan Beedie had seven kills on a .312 clip.
Set One: Arizona State 28, Oregon State 26
The first set was a game of runs. The Sun Devils took an early 5-2 lead after scoring four in a row. A quick 3-0 run that saw a solo block from Isanovic made it 9-4 in favor of ASU. However, OSU responded with six-straight points to take the 10-9 lead. It was back and forth for a while until Larson served ASU to a 5-0 run to make it 18-14. The Beavers responded immediately with four in a row to tie it at 18-18. From there, the teams traded points, going to extras until a kill from Regan Tinkle made it 28-26 for the win.
Set Two: Oregon State 25, Arizona State 16
The Beavers led for the majority of the second set. After a kill from Tinkle tied it at 5-5, OSU went on a 4-0 run and held onto the lead for the rest of the frame. Arizona State put together three-straight points to close the game to 14-11, but Oregon State responded with a 3-0 run of its own to push the lead to 17-11. The Sun Devils would drop the set, 25-16.
Set Three: Arizona State 25, Oregon State 18
ASU bounced back in a big way in the third set. A 10-1 run early in the match pushed the lead all the way to 12-3. Denton was a big part of that run, serving for six of the points and earning two aces. The Beavers cut the lead to 22-17 after a 3-0 run, but the damage had been done and the Sun Devils closed the door, winning 25-18.
Set Four: Oregon State 29, Arizona State 27
The Sun Devils carried the momentum from the third set into the fourth, taking the early lead. Boyd and Levinska both had kills in a 4-0 run to push the lead to 10-5. Despite leading for the majority of the set, the Beavers came storming back with a 9-2 run to take the 23-22 lead. The teams battled to extra points again with ASU getting to match point four times, but this time with OSU coming away victorious, 29-27.
Set Five: Oregon State 15, Arizona State 11
Tomasevic took a timeout after the Beavers went up 6-3 early in the fifth. A successful challenge gave Levinska an ace, making it 8-7 in favor of the home team. With Denton at the service line, the Sun Devils scored four in a row to tie it up at 11-11 and force the Beavers to use both timeouts during the run. Ultimately, Oregon State ended the set on a 4-0 run to win.
Up Next
The teams will play again on Friday at noon MST. It will be on the OSU Live Stream again, with live scoring available as usual.