Desert Financial Arena was quiet for most of Friday as it hosted neutral-site games of the Webb Burbridge Classic.
Then came the Sun Devils.
4,193 fans filed in to see No. 14 Arizona State volleyball host Memphis in the nightcap. It was the Maroon and Gold’s second consecutive game with over 3,000 in attendance, and the fifth-best attendance in program history. The student section was mostly packed with more than 1,600 cheering from the East End.
As junior outside hitter Bailey Miller knocked down the first point of the day, the crowd roared to life and did not quiet down.
Such is the JJ Van Niel era, as the Maroon and Gold (10-1) swept the Tigers (6-6) 25-19, 25-19, 25-9.
“Love the environment, it was awesome,” Van Niel said. “We had the 942 (Crew), the student section just killed it tonight. Tonight was really fun and we had a pretty nice crowd…It was really special that everyone came out. We really appreciate that.”
The student section caught the eyes of the players too.
“We were saying ‘Ignite the Valley.’ The Valley is starting to care about volleyball more,” senior outside hitter Geli Cyr said. “I think that’s very, very cool. I feel very honored to be a part of a group of girls that is bringing more attention to it. You could tell the fans were there to watch tonight. That’s really something that I haven’t seen in Arizona.”
The Sun Devils started out hot in the first set, with Cyr logging six kills before the Tigers burned their first timeout down 15-10. They hung on for the set win off a Memphis attack error.
Miscues continued to plague both sides to start the second set, with four of the first five points collectively coming from errors. But ASU finished the frame with a 10-5 run to once again take a game 25-19 as graduate middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede picked up the set-winning kill.
The Maroon and Gold cleaned up their mistakes in the third set, bursting to a 12-3 lead, as Miller sent the fans home happy with the match-winning kill.
“I think we started to get more serving pressure on them,” Van Niel said. “There are some things that we need to be better at. But I think probably about halfway through the match, we started getting them out of system a little bit more. They were passing really well for the first set and most of the second set.”
Both teams combined for 44 errors. Memphis struggled at the net, with 15 attack errors. While ASU struggled at the serving line with 12 service errors.
Nonetheless, the Sun Devils remained strong on both sides of the ball with 46 kills and a .458 hitting percentage while posting 38 digs.
Cyr led the Maroon and Gold with 13 kills and also notched eight digs. Her offensive contribution throughout the entire match came after a two-kill, two-set performance against Prairie View A&M the day before. She also became the first Sun Devil to reach 100 kills on the season.
“I really think Geli is a great attacker,” graduate setter Argentina Ung said. “Her mobile IQ is out of the gym. She knows what shots to do. I’m just really happy to be on the same side of the net as her.”
Cyr’s performance was helped by Ung’s passing. The Washington State transfer had 37 assists, her second-highest total in a match this season. She also logged two kills, five digs, and two blocks.
“Arg is a really, really, really good setter, and so was Shannon Shields,” Cyr said. “They’re kind of similar almost in a way. Arg has a really good ability to find the pin, and that has been really, really helpful. We run our tempo pretty fast. When we got in the gym, she picked it up right away.”
Miller and graduate middle blocker Claire Jeter followed Cyr with nine kills. Graduate middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede notched seven kills while graduate outside hitter Shania Cromartie had six.
Van Niel’s defense limited Memphis’s offense, who registered 50 kills in a four-set loss to Prairie View A&M earlier in the day, to 24. Additionally, no Tiger got more than six kills. Graduate libero Mary Shroll, who is the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, led the backline with 14 digs.
The Sun Devils close out non-conference play and the Webb-Burbridge Classic against Montana State (2-8) tomorrow at Noon MST. It will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two sides, with the first happening in 1982.
“For me, the important thing is just executing,” Van Niel said. “You can’t necessarily control when you’re gonna win or lose a match all the time if other teams play great and you’re kind of are where you are. But I still feel like we haven’t hit where we can be as far as everyone firing on all cylinders. When we are there, it’s gonna be really exciting.”
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