EUGENE, Ore. – Arizona State volleyball split its weekend series in the state of Oregon after dropping a five-setter to the Ducks 3-2 on Friday. The Sun Devils are now 17-12 overall and 6-10 in the Pac-12, while Oregon improved to 21-3 and 12-3 in conference.
The loss came in set scores of 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 13-15. Three Sun Devils reached double-digit kills, with Macey Gardner tallying 19, Erica Wilson 17, Whitney Follette tying her personal match high of 11 kills. Allison Palmer’s 61 assists is a match high for the freshman.
After Oregon stormed to a 1-8 lead over ASU in the first set, a kill from Erica Wilson stopped the Duck streak as the Sun Devils closed the spread to 9-14. Oregon was quick to reach 20 points at 13-20 and shut down ASU’s three-point spurt at the end to cap the set 18-25.
Both teams jockeyed for the advantage in the second set, and after four ties and four straight points by Arizona State, the Sun Devils held an 11-8 edge. Oregon proceeded to tie it at 14-all, but momentum stayed with the Devils who worked their way to a 21-18 lead. Behind kills by Whitney Follette and Wilson, ASU tied it at 1-1 by taking the frame 25-23.
Working from behind in the third, 8-16, ASU outscored Oregon 4-2 to come within reach at 14-19 and frustrated UO into a timeout soon after at 18-21. Coming out of the timeout, ASU recorded three kills from Gardner and Follette, but Oregon’s previous lead allowed the Ducks to finish the set 21-25.
In the fourth, ASU levied itself to a 7-3 lead and held on by swinging .357 through the 12-8 point. Though Oregon extended rallies, Arizona State held strong and used its presence at the net to keep control, 16-12. Upon the Sun Devils reaching a 21-15 lead, UO called its second timeout but it was too little help as ASU took this frame handedly 25-17 to force a fifth set.
In the deciding set, Arizona State played with power, slamming down kills to go up 5-3. With the match tied at 6, 7 and then 8-all, a timely block assist from Alexis Pinson and Nora Tuioti-Mariner put the lead back for ASU. Behind at 9-10, the Sun Devils called a timeout and regrouped with another block from Pinson and Tuioti-Mariner to make it 10-10. Following ties to the 12-point mark, Oregon inched ahead in the final three plays to come out on top 13-15.
