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ASU volleyball wins first postseason match in eight years

Junior setter Bianca Arellano celebrates after the Devils force a game point in the fifth set during the match vs Washington State on Sunday, Oct. 19th, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils would rally from two sets down to beat the Cougars 3-2. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)
Junior setter Bianca Arellano celebrates after the Devils force a game point in the fifth set during the match vs Washington State on Sunday, Oct. 19th, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils would rally from two sets down to beat the Cougars 3-2. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)

Junior setter Bianca Arellano celebrates after the Devils force a game point in the fifth set during the match vs Washington State on Sunday, Oct. 19th, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils would rally from two sets down to beat the Cougars 3-2. (Photo by Daniel Kwon) Junior setter Bianca Arellano celebrates after the Devils force a game point in the fifth set during the match vs Washington State on Sunday, Oct. 19th, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils would rally from two sets down to beat the Cougars 3-2. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)

Another day, another comeback. The latest one results in ASU volleyball’s first postseason victory since 2006.

The Sun Devils defeated Texas A&M 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-22) in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“We were pretty clean,” coach Jason Watson said. “We weren’t clean to start in game one but moving on we were pretty clean.”

ASU was able to overcome the Texas A&M offense that differs from most Pac-12 teams. The Aggies are very reliant on their middle blocks, so ASU had to shift over and focus more on them than the outside hitters.

The defensive adaptation worked. The two dominant Texas A&M middles, junior Shelby Sullivan and sophomore Jazzmin Babers, combined for 23 kills and seven errors.

They both hit .286, well below their season averages of .378 and .406, respectively. Nonetheless, Watson thought his defense didn’t play as well as they could have.

“I thought the middles played well,” he said. “I thought they got away from us.”

He said junior middle blocker Macey Gardner played strong defense, though. She had four blocks.

She was once against the offensive catalyst.

“Mace was Mace,” Watson said.

She had the usual steady stream of passes and totaled more kills (24) than the two dominant Texas A&M; middles combined. Gardner was also remarkably efficient, hitting .315 percent.

Sophomore outside hitter BreElle Bailey also hit efficiently. She had nine kills and three errors, resulting in a .316 hitting percentage.

“I thought everyone played well,” Watson said. “Offensively, we were clean.”

He said that sophomore Kizzy Willey had a great game that was not reflected on the stat sheet. She hit a measly .136 but Watson said three of her four hitting errors came from poor transition passes from junior setter Bianca Arellano. If she returned them without errors, she would have a solid .272 performance, assuming none were kills.

(She played) really good tonight,” Watson said. “We’re going to need her to be good (tomorrow).”

The Sun Devils once again struggled mightily with serving, however. The players combined for 10 serve errors, twice as many as Texas A&M. They made up for it with their efficient hitting, though, with a .264 mark compared to the Aggie’s .180.

The service mistakes represented ASU’s first set. After taking a 2-0 lead, redshirt freshman Genevieve Pirotte had a serve error. It was the first of five in the set.

This was completely different from set three, which ASU won 25-16 in dominant fashion. The Sun Devils only had one serve error and one receiving error.

“They had to be really, really clean in order to beat us,” Watson said. “I thought that was one of the better sets we’ve played in the last two or three weeks.”

The serve error was from Arellano, who had two in the match. She has stuck with her jump serve, which is inaccurate but extremely powerful. When it gets over the net, it’s tough to return.

When it doesn’t, ASU loses the point. Arellano has reverted to a standing serve in tight matches for precaution, and may be better off only serving that way when ASU plays the winner of No. 3 Texas vs Northwestern in the second round.

The fifth set of today’s match was back-and-forth. ASU took a slim 14-15 lead when Gardner got a ace and maintained it until Sullivan hit an ace to put the Aggies up 20-19. A Gardner kill put ASU up 22-21, immediately followed by another kill from the three-time Pac-12 All-Conference Team member.

ASU won 25-22.

“I thought we settled down offensively,” Watson said. “We were pretty clean... I was really impressed by the way we played.”

 

 

Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.eduor follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman

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