No. 19 Arizona State (17-2, 5-2 in Pac-12) looked to start their four-game road trip with a win against Oregon State on Friday.
ASU battled hard all night but ultimately fell short in five sets (25-20, 23-25, 18-25, 25-13, 11-15).
The Sun Devils started hot in the first set receiving back-to-back blocks on the first points of the game from senior middle blocker Claire Jeter.
Oregon State was able to battle back and the Sun Devils quickly found themselves down 18-15 in the first set.
However, ASU then capitalized on three service errors from the Beavers and mounted a comeback to take the first set 25-20.
Offensively, the Sun Devils were led by senior opposite hitter Marta Levinska who finished the night with 22 kills, and graduate setter Shannon Shields who tallied 49 assists.
The second set saw the momentum swing back and forth as both teams were exchanging points with the score evened up at 15-15.
Oregon State’s offense then took over with the help from senior outside hitter Mychael Vernon who finished with 19 kills as the Beavers were able to snatch set two 25-23.
The Beavers once again came out swinging to start the third set. As a team, they hit 32% compared to ASU’s 5% which proved crucial in how they were able to come out on top 25-18.
With Oregon State taking back-to-back sets the pressure then shifted to ASU who had a do-or-die fourth set upcoming.
ASU answered, coming out strong in a must-have fourth set taking it 25-13 thanks to some great team serving as the Sun Devils generated five aces to help win the set.
Defensively, ASU was led by graduate middle blocker Maddie McLaughlin who generated 8 blocks and Graduate libero Mary Shroll who had 17 digs.
It all came down to the fifth set with the teams locked up two sets a piece.
ASU looked to be in control scoring three early kills to take a 3-1 lead. With the teams exchanging errors the Sun Devils found themselves knotted up 10-10.
This quickly changed as the potent ASU offense started to sputter during the final stretch of the match allowing the Beavers to come back and take the fifth set 15-11.
It was surely a missed opportunity for Arizona State as the team found itself down throughout the night but mounted several comeback attempts.
ASU will look to bounce back this Sunday at noon on the road against No. 5 Oregon (16-2, 6-1 in Pac-12).
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