Senior Jenny Teslevich prepares to serve the ball during a game against Utah. The volleyball team practiced their serving in preparation for the game against UCLA. (Photo by Murphy Bannerman)
The ASU volleyball team worked on serving all week in practice.
Their efforts came to fruition Friday night when, with the season hanging in the balance, senior libero Stephanie Preach aced the UCLA Bruins to take the five-set thriller (25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13) in Los Angeles.
Sophomore outside hitter Macey Gardner, who finished with 19 kills, said it was imperative the Sun Devils serve well Friday.
“We really work on serving and serve receive because we know that’s where the rallies start off,” Gardner said. “One serve can be one point and one point can really win the match.”
ASU used the service to put pressure on the Bruins all night long, starting with sophomore Macey Gardner’s ace just four points into the match.
Friday marked just the second time in program history that the Sun Devils (18-11, 7-10 Pac-12) defeated UCLA in Los Angeles, and the first time since 1995.
Of their last seven matches, the Sun Devils have won five in a last-hour NCAA tournament push. Coach Jason Watson said tonight was essentially a must-win.
“We felt like we at least needed to get a split this trip to kind of keep us alive. Getting it on the first match certainly takes a little bit of pressure off,” Watson said.
The Sun Devils played from behind for most of the first frame, but caught up to tie the set at 18, the first tie since 2-2. ASU exploded for a 10-1 run to win 25-19. Junior opposite hitter Nora Tuioti-Mariner entered for freshman opposite hitter Kizzy Willey early in the set.
ASU kept it close in the second set, surging back to tie the frame at 22. In extra points, UCLA senior outside hitter Kelly Reeves went down the line for the Bruins’ 25th point, a call that the Sun Devils disagreed with. The Bruins took the set 26-24.
UCLA junior outside hitter Karsta Lowe errored out on the final point of the third set, helping ASU to a 25-21 set victory.
Sophomore middle blocker Whitney Follette got going in the fourth set, but the Bruins cruised to a 25-16 victory and forced a decisive fifth set. Follette finished with 13 kills, hitting .417.
“I thought (Follette) and (Arellano) were getting this slide, where the middle goes off one foot behind the setter,” Watson said. “We’ve been working on that for like ever and they were connecting pretty good tonight.”
The fifth set started with a pair of 5-0 streaks from either side. Tied at 13, Tuioti-Mariner capitalized on the overpass to give the Sun Devils match point. Preach recorded her third and most crucial ace of the evening to win the match on the following play.
“(Preach), particularly, we knew we needed to upgrade her serve,” Watson said. “I thought she was good all night going back and creating some point scoring opportunities for us. To end it the way she did was pretty satisfying for her, I’m sure.”
Tuioti-Mariner, who subbed in for Willey in the first set, was arguably the player of the match given the circumstances, ending up with nine kills on .350 hitting,
“(Willey) is battling her knee and it just wasn’t quite going for her tonight,” Watson said. “Nice to be able to give (Tuioti-Mariner) a chance and more importantly for (Tuioti-Mariner) to respond.”
ASU continues the final stretch of the regular season Sunday at No. 8 USC at noon.
Reach the reporter at bmargiot@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @BenMargiott
