# #

Sun Devils Split Day One At Baylor Invitational

by thesundevils.com
Sep 9, 2022

WACO, Texas – Day one at the Baylor Invitational on Friday saw Sun Devil Volleyball split its matches, sweeping Evansville with another strong serving performance and dropping a five-set match to Colorado State despite career highs from a pair of newcomers.

Notable Stats

  • Arizona State (5-3) beat Evansville (2-8) in three (25-15, 25-17, 25-9) before falling to Colorado State (6-3) in five sets (15-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9).
  • The serve continues to be a strong point for ASU. The team had 13 against Evansville, which is tied for the fourth-highest total in the rally scoring era at ASU. Senior Shannon Shields had five to lead the team, which is her career high and is tied for seventh in the rally-scoring era. Freshman setter Allie Gray also earned a career high with two.
  • In the win over the Aces, the Sun Devils hit a season-best .419. Two on the team earned new career bests in hitting percentage: Marta Levinska with .583 and Andi Kreiling with .538.
  • Senior outside hitter Iman Isanovic moved into 15th place for career kills at ASU. She now has 1,062 after earning 17 total today.
  • On the opposite pin, junior Marta Levinska led the team in kills in both matches, starting with eight against the Aces and then reaching 15 on a .343 clip against the Rams.
  • At libero, sophomore Jaden Ravnsborg tallied a career-high 21 in the match against CSU, her first time surpassing 20 in that category.
  • Freshman pin hitter Leah Miller earned a career-high 13 kills against Colorado State. It was her first outing with double-digit kills.
  • Sophomore middle blocker Andi Kreiling had a career-high five blocks in the win over Evansville, as well as a team-high and season-high eight kills. 
  • Head coach Sanja Tomasevic falls to 17-22 in five-set matches. This season, ASU is 2-1.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sun Devil Volleyball (@sundevilvolleyball)

Game One: Arizona State 3, Evansville 0
In their first match of the day, the Sun Devils were able to come away with a 3-0 win against Evansville. Andi Kreiling had herself a day with a career-high five blocks and season-high eight kills. The team's serve also stood out today with 13 aces, tied for fourth in ASU history in the rally-scoring era. Shields led that effort with a career-high five aces. 

Set One: ASU 25, Evansville 15
Thanks to a couple of long scoring streaks throughout the set, ASU was able to take set one. It was back-and-forth for the first half of the set, but a big block by Levinska and Kreiling set the tone early to give the Sun Devils a narrow 6-4 lead. A kill by Claire Jeter was the start of the first long scoring streak of five to put ASU up 17-9. After a timeout and sideout by Evansville, ASU went back on another scoring run. A kill by Levinska opened the second long scoring streak of five to put the Sun Devils up 22-10. ASU was able to close out the set on a service ace from Isanovic. 

Set Two: ASU 25, Evansville 17
A kill by Levinska tied things up at three early on. The set was pretty close after that as Evansville managed to keep it tight until a kill by Isanovic started a 6-0 scoring run to put ASU up 20-11. Amidst that scoring run was the lone service ace in that set, which came from Jeter.  After trading points for the rest of the set, Geli Cyr was able to finish things with a kill. 

Set Three ASU 25, Evansville 9
Going into the final set up 2-0, the Sun Devils continued to carry that momentum to quickly close things out in the third set. A scoring run of four put ASU up 7-3 early. Allie Gray had two service aces during that run. The Sun Devils ran away with the set on a long 11-0 run that saw all five of Shields' aces, which put ASU up 21-8. A kill by the other team ended the run, but ASU was able to come right back with a kill by Kreiling that was the first point in another run, this time of four, to win the set and match.

 

Game Two: Arizona State, Colorado State
Despite starting the match with an imposing presence up 2-0, the Sun Devils ultimately fell to the Rams in five. Levinska had team-high 15 kills and Isanovic followed just behind with 14 of her own. Snyder and Shields both continued to deliver on the assists-front, with 21 and 19, respectively. Ravnsborg and Miller notched career highs, the former with 21 digs and the latter with 13 kills.

Set One: ASU 25, Colorado State 15
Even at four, the Sun Devils jumped ahead with a Levinska kill and a service ace from Shields, which gave ASU a three-point boost to go up, 7-5. Colorado State's kill got them within one, but a service error kickstarted a breakthrough in the set for the Sun Devils. ASU would pile on seven more for a 10-point lead. This effort was led by Miller with two kills, and five errors from the Rams. At 16-6, the Sun Devils' strong midpoint showing would prove to be useful, as the set's last 18 points were equally divided at nine for a final of 25-15. Levinska had a perfect set with four kills while hitting 1.000.

Set Two: ASU 26, Colorado State 24
The Sun Devils went the distance in the second set. Errors on Colorado State's side supplied ASU with five of their first seven points. Trailing 13-9, the Sun Devils picked up the pace, slamming down five in a row, with three Isanovic kills. Following the Rams' timeout, ASU would see two more added to their tally, with the last three of their 7-0 run coming thanks to errors on the opponent's side. After a tie, the Sun Devils regained their lead at 20-18, with three-straight kills from Levinska. She put away the two final kills to stow the set away at 26-24. This season, ASU is 2-0 in sets that have gone to extra points. 

Set Three: Colorado State 25, ASU 22
Trailing by three, Cyr turned the set around with a kill, as Miller, Kreiling, and Isanovic followed with one each of their own to give them the lead of two, 8-6. A kill from Jeter and error from the Rams gave the Sun Devils their largest lead of three, 10-7. Tied at 13, the Sun Devils would see Colorado State take the lead and maintain it. A late attempt at a comeback saw ASU get five of six points, to face a deficit of just one at 21-20, but the scoring would fizzle out to bring on a fourth set.

Set Four: Colorado State 25, ASU 17
The opening portion of the set looked promising for the Sun Devils. Two streaks of three unanswered points saw them double the Rams' total at a score of 8-4. Kills by Miller and Kreiling gave ASU their biggest lead of the set with five, at 11-6. However, Colorado State would catch fire, going on a 10-1 run to go up 17-13. Late in the set, Levinska added two more kills, and Miller added another, as well, but the Rams would even out the set tally to force a fifth.

Set Five: Colorado State 15, ASU 9
Riding the momentum, Colorado State achieved an early lead at 5-1. An ASU timeout was called after going down 7-2, but the Rams added on three more for a lead of eight. ASU cut their deficit in half, awakening the offense at the end, as Isanovic added three more kills, but the momentum sparked too late as CSU would seal the win.
 

Up Next
The Baylor Invitational will conclude from the Sun Devils by taking on the No. 15 Bears on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. MST. It will be live on Big 12 Now, with live scoring available as well.

Related News & Videos