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Ameritas Players Challenge Day 1 Updates

by thesundevils.com
Sep 3, 2021

This story will be updated after the 1:30 p.m. MST match against Nebraska-Omaha.

Match One: Georgia 3, Arizona State 2

  • Despite a career high in kills from Iman Isanovic, Arizona State moved to 2-2 on the season after a five-set setback against Georgia (3-1) to start the tournament.
  • Notable Stats
  • Arizona State went to five sets for the second match in a row and is now 0-2 on the season when going to five.
  • Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic gave a stellar performance, collecting a career-high 23 kills on a .314 clip. This was the fourth time in her career earning 20 or more kills in a match. Dating back to last season, she has reached double figures in kills in five-straight matches. She also had six digs and a career-high three assists.
  • At libero, junior Annika Larson has reached double figures in digs in every match so far this season. She had a season-high and match-high 18 digs.
  • Sophomore setter Ella Snyder notched her second double-double of the season with 36 assists and 10 digs. She also had four kills on five attempts, matching her career best she earned in the last match against Louisville.
  • Sophomore outside hitter Marta Levinska had a season-high 13 kills in the setback. She has started the season strong, reaching double figures in kills in all four matches so far. 
  • Leading all players in blocks was sophomore middle blocker Claire Jeter with six total. She also had seven kills and a team-high two aces.
  • Shannon Shields and Roberta Rabelo made their first appearances of the season.

Set One: Georgia 25, Arizona State 22
The Sun Devil volleyball program's inaugural match versus Georgia and the weekend opened with two early kills from Jeter and Isanovic, who would finish with eight kills in the opening set. When UGA called a timeout after ASU tied the set 16-16, both teams were hitting a very close clip of .458 and .428, respectively. Coming out of the timeout, the Bulldogs scored three straight. Georgia created separation after scoring six of a nine-point stretch to create a 22-19 lead. After some back and forth, the Sun Devils would eventually drop the first set, 25-22.

Set Two: Arizona State 25, Georgia 18
The second set opened with ASU taking an early 5-3 lead as a result of an ace by Jeter along with some UGA hitting errors. Junior middle blocker Beatrice Badini had her first kill in the second set to put ASU up by three, 11-8. Three-straight kills by the Bulldogs gave them the lead, 12-11. An 8-1 run that saw kills from Isanovic, Snyder and Badini powered the Sun Devils to a big advantage (19-15) that the Bulldogs would ultimately not be able to overcome. ASU would go on a 6-2 run to win the set, 25-18, taking the win with a block.

Set Three: Georgia 25, Arizona State 16
Finding themselves down by three, two-straight points by the Sun Devils kept them in the second set early, 10-9. Three in a row by Georgia gave it a four point lead (13-9) after an error by ASU, leading to a Sun Devil timeout. After the timeout, the Bulldogs continued their scoring run and would lead, 16-10. A kill from sophomore outside hitter Marta Levinska would help ASU get a stop on offense, 17-12, but Georgia would continue to build upon its lead. A kill by the Bulldogs would give the Sun Devils their largest defeat of the match, 25-16.

Set Four: Arizona State 25, Georgia 20
A block by Snyder and Jeter helped push the lead to three early in the set, 6-3. A kill by Isanovic helped ASU extend its lead but a service error kept Georgia within four, 14-10. Sophomore outside hitter Reagan Tinkle subbed in and got a kill, which pushed ASU's lead to five, 16-11,  and led to Georgia using its second timeout. The Bulldogs came within three after consecutive hitting errors by the Sun Devils, leading ASU to call its first timeout of the set while leading 16-13. A kill by Levinska would put ASU back up by five, but Georgia had a kill along with an ASU error and came back within three. With her 11th kill of the match, Levinska won the set for the Sun Devils, 25-20.

Set Five: Georgia 15, Arizona State 7
In its second-consecutive five-set match, ASU had an early 3-2 lead from a service error by Georgia. However, hitting errors by the Sun Devils gave the Bulldogs the lead. A block from Jeter kept ASU within two, 6-4. With their seventh service ace of the match, the Bulldogs took a three-point lead and then an error by the Sun Devils pushed Georgia's lead to four, 10-6. The Bulldogs would go on a 5-0 run and would take the match on a service ace, 15-7.

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