The No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils swept the California Golden Bears 25-20, 25-19, 25-13 Friday night at Desert Financial Arena.
The win marked Arizona State’s fourth consecutive season sweep over Cal. The Sun Devils also achieved their first 20-win regular season since 2012, a goal first-year head coach JJ Van Niel set at the beginning of the season.
“It’s awesome.” Van Niel said. “I think it’s cool because of how hard all the kids have worked since I’ve walked in on day one. They’ve just been an unbelievable group that I’m really proud to be a part of.”
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. Senior middle blocker Claire Jeter led the way, contributing on four of the five points. The Golden Bears called their first timeout after Arizona State led 9-3.
That cushion helped the Sun Devils maintain the lead for the remainder of the set, which they took 25-20. Senior outside hitter Marta Levinska had the set-winning kill.
The first set also set the tone for a stellar defensive outing. Arizona State had six blocks during the first en route to a 13-block night. That is the second most blocks in a three-set game for the Sun Devils this season, only behind a 14-block performance against Utah last week.
“We do a lot of ball-setter/ball-hitter drills, which is just a lot of blocking against an offense that’s right on the other side,” Jeter said. “We pair it up to what the team is going to run. It’s really helpful for us. And we do a lot of out-of-system stuff. That’s when the blocking is most important to us.”
The Sun Devils fell behind 6-1 early in the second set. However, they responded with a 13-3 run, taking advantage of the Golden Bears’ errors.
While Cal cut the lead to two, Arizona State remained in control. Van Niel’s unit took the second set 25-19.
The Sun Devils finished the frame getting points from senior outside hitter Sam Taumoepeau’s errors and Jeter’s kills.
Although the first two sets remained close at times, the third set was entirely in favor of the home side.
The Sun Devils raced to a 7-2 lead, causing the Golden Bears to call their first timeout of the set. Levinska led the way with eight kills in the final set, which was won 25-13 by the Sun Devils.
Levinska led the team in kills with 18. She averaged six kills/set in the two matches Arizona State played against Cal this season.
Jeter was the star of the night. She had nine kills and led the team with eight blocks. The blocking effort tied her career high in a three-set match, which happened in last year’s home game against the Golden Bears.
Graduate setter Shannon Shields led the Sun Devils in aces with three. She also led the team in assists with 33.
Graduate libero Mary Shroll and junior outside hitter Geli Cyr led the team in digs with 11.
A key difference between the two sides was the attack. The Sun Devils had a .231% hitting percentage and held Cal to .028%.
“We took away their two biggest offensive weapons, which were the pins,” Shields said. “We knew what was coming. So, we studied them and practiced that…we followed the scouting reports, we did our jobs, and had fun. I think that’s what causes success too.”
The No. 21 Sun Devils(20-3, 8-3 in Pac-12) will try to play spoiler with an upset this Sunday at Noon as they host the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal (18-2, 11-0 in Pac-12) at Mullett Arena.
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