Game 1:
The Arizona State women’s volleyball team traveled to Flagstaff this weekend to compete in the 2017 Lumberjack Classic. Their first competition of the day came against California State University, Bakersfield, early Friday.
The Sun Devils began the first set with a kill by junior middle blocker Carmen Unzue from sophomore setter Nicole Peterson, but the roadrunners were able to respond quickly with two points of their own from attack error by ASU. They would remain in the lead until the Sun Devils notched three straight kills by freshman outside hitter Griere Hughes, senior middle blocker Oluoma Okaro and sophomore outside hitter Ivana Jeremic.
From there, the Sun Devils took the lead and never looked back going on an 18-10 run and winning the first set 25-17.
The momentum carried over for ASU into the second set with the firepower of Hughes, Grahovac and Okaro early in the period. Despite the attempted comeback by the Roadrunners, their 8-5 run late in the set would not be enough to defeat the Sun Devils, ultimately falling to them 25-18.
The third and final set showed that the Roadrunners would not go down without a fight despite the Sun Devils taking an early 10-4 lead after a 6-0 run with the help of Jeremic, Hughes and Okaro. Cal State would go on a run of their own to tie the game up at 20 a piece but Peterson was able to set up Okaro twice to get the lead up to 23-20 before two back to back kills by Okaro and Hughes would push the Devils to victory.
Two Sun Devils had double digit scoring in blocks, with Okaro and Hughes putting up 18 and 10 respectively.
The win marked the Sun Devils fifth of the season and ended their two game losing streak.
Game 2:
The second match of the day did not go as smoothly for the Sun Devils as they opened up the afternoon losing the first set 25-17.
After two attack errors by ASU, the team was able to turn things around and communicate better on the offensive end. Momentum swung towards the Sun Devils with a four kill streak and a service ace by Okaro allowed them to take a 7-4 lead. From there, ASU never looked back. Okaro, Hughes and Grahovac all contributed throughout the second set to push them past the Lumberjacks.
Two service aces by sophomore libero Courtney Leffel were enough to separate ASU and the Lumberjacks. Despite the Lumberjacks finding two holes of their own, ASU was able to pull away with three straight kills.
In the third set, momentum was on ASU's side as they didn't wait long to pull away from NAU, leading 19-10 at one point. The Lumberjacks showed fight towards the end of the set with two attack errors and a kill by freshman opposite hitter Heaven Harris, but with every point they fought for, the Sun Devils would knock back one.
After taking the third set, the Sun Devils headed into the final set, taking an early lead thanks to Okaro and Jeremic. However the Lumberjacks would not go down without a fight.
It was a game of runs for both teams throughout the set. ASU was able to take a three point lead at one point, but within minutes the story flipped and the Lumberjacks were on a run of their own. NAU was able to bring the match within 2 points with a service ace by senior libero Brooke Donnelly, but ultimately ASU was able to pull away with the victory.
Okaro recorded her fourth double-double of the year leading the team with 19 kills and 13 digs. She was followed close behind by Grahovac who had 13 kills.
Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic spoke after the game.
"I am proud with how we came out and executed today. We bounced back from a tough outing this past weekend, and took a promising step forward," Tomasevic said. "I was really impressed with how Shelbie dictated the pace of the game in the second match. We wanted to play quick and her passing allotted us the ability to do so."
ASU hopes to remain undefeated in the Lumberjack Classic tomorrow when they take on Utah State at 10 a.m.
Reach the reporter at klbroder@asu.edu or follow @KellyB1459 on Twitter.
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