TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State volleyball team was swept 3-0 by third-ranked Oregon on Saturday night, losing by set scores of 15-25, 23-25, 20-25. Freshman Macey Gardner posted a team-best 12 kills in the contest.
In the first set, ASU (14-9, 3-7 Pac-12) kept the score close, tying it three times in the early points before rallying behind three Erica Wilson kills to make it 12-14. Macey Gardner made it 15-16 behind the serve of Wilson, but the Ducks (18-1, 9-1 Pac-12) capitalized on Sun Devil miscues and a pair of aces to close out the frame 15-25.
ASU held Oregon to a .188 attack percentage in the second, but the Ducks came out ahead 23-25. After ASU led 6-3 to start, the teams traded the lead five times with 11 ties. Following a Devil timeout, attacks from Gardner, Whitney Follette and Wilson allowed ASU to come back and tie it at 19-all. Back-to-back errors by Oregon forced the Ducks into their first timeout which then saw ASU taking it down to the wire, 23-all. Two errors doomed ASU in the final points, and the Sun Devils went into intermission down 2-0.
Improving as the night went on, the Sun Devils hit their best in the third and final frame with a team clip of .250. The score teeter-tottered in the beginning of the frame, but three-consecutive Duck errors tied the score at 12-12. Nora Tuioti-Mariner held her serve through three points, 16-18, but Oregon started to pull away at 18-22 before ASU called its second timeout. The Devils were unable to make up ground, though, falling 20-25 for the sweep.
