CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Arizona State volleyball continued its strong early season run by sweeping defending champion Texas 3-0 in the finale of the Illini Classic on Friday. Scores were 25-18, 25-23, 25-21.
The win, which followed a loss to host Illinois earlier in the day, gave ASU at 8-1 record, while Texas fell to 4-2. It was only the second time in program history that ASU had beaten a team ranked as high as No. 2 -- the previous time came in 2010 against California. It was also ASU's first victory in five matches against Texas.
“I think we learned today just how thin the margins are in college volleyball,” ASU coach Jason Watson said. “The ability to play good volleyball over a long period of time, is hard. Our team was able to play well today.
“I continue to be amazed at the resilience and desire this team shows towards competition. We have a lot of work left to do this season, but right now we are all extremely proud of the work we have done to date."
Macey Gardener recorded her first double-double of the season with a team-high 17 kills and ten digs. Freshman Kizzy Willey recorded her second consecutive ten-kill game, Whitney Follette had four service aces and setter Bianca Arellano had 32 assists, 13 digs and six kills.
The Sun Devils suffered their first loss of the season earlier in the day with a 3-2 loss to host Illinois.
Scores were 25-23, 23-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-17. Liz McMahon led Illinois with 23 kills in the win over the Sun Devils. McMahon came up big for the Illini, the last being two-consecutive kills in the final frame to bring the Illini to match point.
Freshmen Kizzy Willey and BreElle Bailey each had 11 kills to lead the Sun Devils, while Nora Tuioti-Mariner and Whitney Follette had 10 apiece.
Setter Bianca Arellano posted her second double-double on the year with 40 assists and 20 digs. Senior libero Stephanie Preach led the Sun Devils defensively with 27 digs.
ASU now returns home to host the Sun Devil Classic on Sept. 20-21, with matches against Cal Poly, Alabama State and Louisiana-Monroe.
