The Bank – Tempe, Arizona – With a tremendous and raucous home crowd, Arizona State Women’s Volleyball swept Arizona in straight sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-19) for the first time in six long years on Thursday night!  ASU posted the highest hitting percentage of the season in a match in which they were both dominant and poised. 

If you have not been paying attention, I highly recommend you give this Sun Devil Squad some due diligence.  They are exciting, well-coached, and powerful, and they have the potential to win the Pac-12 Conference, to say the least.

Set One: Arizona State 25, Arizona 20

The Wildcats kicked it off with a couple of aces placing them ahead 5-2.  After a long break with a play under review, the Sun Devils battled back to 16-16. Two four-point serving runs for Ivana Jeremic and six kills for Claire Kovensky, along with five service errors and six attack errors from Arizona, thrust Arizona State to a 25-20 victory. The passion and energy was contagious at The Bank!

Photo, Arizona State

Set Two: Arizona State 25, Arizona 16

With the fantastic momentum from that Set One victory, ASU started fast to a 7-3 early lead before the Wildcats called a timeout. The Sun Devils rocked it with 15 kills on only one error in the set. Callie Jones had a 4-point service run placing ASU ahead 24-14. The Wildcats added two points, but ASU finished off the set on an Andrea Mitrovik kill at 25-16.  It was almost a perfect set by the Sun Devils- great speed, energy, and purpose.  

Set Three: Arizona State 25, Arizona 19

ASU and U of A found themselves locked up early at 5-5. The Sun Devils swelled forward propelled by three kills in a row by Kovensky taking an 11-8 lead. After long-services and a few key mistakes by the Wildcats, Jeremic and Kovensky solidified the victory with 5-kills each en route to a 25-19 set and match victory! 

The Numbers

• ? Arizona State (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12) beat the University of Arizona (10-3, 0-1 Pac-12) for the first time since 2016, sweeping them for the first time since 2013.
• ? The Sun Devils hit .330 with only 11 hitting errors in three sets.
• ? Agile and quick Libero Courtney Leffel lead with 17 digs. She has just two matches this season with single-digit digs.
• ? Middle hitter Avital Jaloba hit .741 with five kills on seven attempts.
• ? Outside hitter Ivana Jeremic had 11 kills on 15 attempts, an impressive .600.
• ? Outside hitter Claire Kovensky led the offense with a match-high 14 kills, hitting .393.
• ? Senior setters Callie Jones and Nicole Peterson led in assists with 18 and 16.  
• Arizona State Women’s Volleyball earned half a point in the Territorial Cup Series with the big win.
• ? ASU’s next contest with the Wildcats is in Tucson on November 19. 

Next Match:  Sunday, September 29, 2019, against UCLA on the road. 12pm MST Pac-12 Network.