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Double-Doubles Power Sun Devils To Season Sweep Over Buffs

by thesundevils.com
Nov 12, 2021

TEMPE, Ariz. -- With three pin hitters earning double-doubles, Sun Devil Volleyball beat Colorado in four sets (25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 27-25) on Friday afternoon in DFA to complete Arizona State's first season sweep over the Buffs since 2011.

Notable Stats

  • Arizona State (14-12, 7-8 Pac-12) defeated Colorado (14-10, 5-10 Pac-12) in its second-to-last home match of the season. This is the first time ASU swept Colorado in a season during head coach Sanja Tomasevic's time at ASU, and the first time ASU has done so since 2011, which was Colorado's first season in the Pac-12. 
  • Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic had 26 kills and 14 digs in the win. It was her ninth time reaching 20 or more kills this season and her 10th double-double of the year. Isanovic additionally had four service aces, with two of those coming in the first set.
  • Sophomore pin hitter Marta Levinska clinched her 15th double-double of the season with 20 digs and 19 kills. The dig total was a career high and the 19 kills is a season best, one shy of her career high. 
  • The second Sun Devil to reach her career-high in digs was freshman outside hitter Geli Cyr, who had 17 digs. Additionally, Cyr had her sixth match of the season reaching double digits in kills with 12. She was the third Sun Devil to earn a double-double, her fourth of the season.
  • Junior setter Shannon Shields came in toward the end of the second set and played the rest of the match. Shields had 31 assists, a season high, as well as seven digs on Friday afternoon.
  • Reaching her fourth match of the season in double figures in digs, grad libero Jamye Cox had 19, a new season high.

Quotes
Head coach Sanja Tomasevic
Opening Statement
"It was an up-and-down game on both sides, no team ever really settled in. I'm happy we took care of business and won in the fourth set, I really wasn't crazy about the flow of the game. It felt like neither team really got a rhythm, except us in the first set, which was amazing. But 23 hitting errors are really high for us in four sets, something to look into and work on before Sunday."

On bursts of energy
"I would like to see us execute more on free balls and perfect passes, it felt like we had plenty of opportunities, especially on free balls, where I felt like we would get in trouble. That should be a no-brainer for a team of our level to finish on free balls, so that's something we're going to emphasize for sure."

On the balanced effort 
"She's (Iman) our leading point scorer, we get the most points and production from her. She's not going to win us games, we've been there before so I do like that she got that many kills. We've talked about distributing the offense some more for other people, at some point they're going to stop her. I'm glad we got Geli (Cyr) ready to go, it was nice to have her back and playing well, and Marta did a good job too. She (Marta) got a double-double. She was big for us at the end, she took some big swings when we needed her to. She got blocked, then the next ball she got set she didn't tip, she didn't roll a shot, she jumped a little higher and hit a little harder."

On switch of setters in the second set
"The choices she (Ella Snyder) made were good, but location and tempo were not, so we needed to do something different. It was good to see Shannon (Shields) come in and get ready to play and contribute to the team. She played well and served well, she did a good job of running the offense and keeping the hitters hot who are doing well."
 

Junior setter Shannon Shields
On her preparation before this game: 
"My timing has been a little off. I think getting extra reps with the coaches and working on that with them has been able to get my rhythm back. It felt better tonight and I think everyone was having more fun than the other day, so that was a good factor."

On what was said during the fourth set to come back:
"I don't think there was anything in particular. I think it was everyone not wanting to go into that fifth set. Fifth sets haven't really been going our way, so it was a consensus between everyone just to push through and finish it. That was our set at the beginning, we were up the whole time then lost it and we had to win it back."

Sophomore outside hitter Marta Levinska
On capitalizing on the momentum:
"We will definitely work on perfect situation things like overpasses and perfect passes. Our out of system was pretty good but when the ball was perfect there was something a little bit off. I think if we work on that then we're golden."

On getting a career high of 20 digs in the game:
"I have been really working on defense these past few weeks. I want to bring what I can bring to the back side of the court. It's just having the mindset that nothing falls, stay disciplined, and trust what the coaches are saying." 
 

Set One: Arizona State 25, Colorado 16
A kill from Isanovic gave the home team an 8-5 lead, where she had four kills throughout the beginning of the first set. Consecutive aces by Isanovic along with a hitting error by Colorado increased the Sun Devils' lead to five, 14-9. Two more kills from Isanovic forced the Buffaloes to call a timeout with ASU up 19-12. Consecutive kills by Levinska gave the Sun Devils the set point, 24-15, and they took the set on a kill from Isanovic, 25-16.

Set Two: Colorado 25, Arizona State 20
A kill from Levinska put ASU ahead 7-4, and a block error by the Buffaloes kept the Sun Devils ahead 10-6. A big 12-0 run for Colorado gave the visitors a big 20-12 lead. Cyr's kill eventually stopped the run, but the damage had been done. An error from CU along with an ace by Isanovic brought the Sun Devils within four on the Buffaloes' set point, but CU took the set on a kill, 25-20.

Set Three: Arizona State 25, Colorado 22
A kill from Isanovic brought ASU within one, 8-7, and an ace by Isanovic gave the Sun Devils the lead, 11-10. A 3-0 spurt by ASU kept it ahead 15-12, and a kill by Cyr resulted in a timeout from the Buffaloes. Colorado went on a 5-0 run to lead 20-18, but a kill by Levinska stopped the run. The Sun Devils went on a 4-0 run to lead by two, 22-20, and a kill from Cyr won the set, 25-22.

Set Four: Arizona State 27, Colorado 25
A kill by Jeter gave ASU a 10-6 lead in the fourth set, and a 3-0 spurt by Colorado brought it within one. Annika Larson came in the fourth set and served the Sun Devils' eighth ace of the match, which gave ASU the 15-11 advantage going into a media timeout. Colorado went on a 6-0 run to gain the lead, 20-16, and ASU called both of its timeouts for the set during that stretch. A kill by the Buffaloes made it 23-18, and the Sun Devils had five-straight points to tie the set. The set went to extra points, where ASU took the set and match on a block from Jeter and Cyr, 27-25.
 

Up Next
Arizona State will have its final home match and Senior Day on Sunday and will face No. 16 Utah at 1:00 p.m. MST in Desert Financial Arena. The match can be viewed on the ASU Live Stream. 

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