In the year 1990, the Cold War was drawing to a close, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey had multiple songs on the Billboard Hot 100, and Seinfeld had just wrapped up its first season.
It was also the last time No. 13 Arizona State volleyball faced off against Grand Canyon University.
On paper, the Lopes appeared to be a tough test for the Maroon and Gold. They started the season 13-6 fresh off an appearance in last year’s NCAA Tournament. They also fared well in their non-conference slate, which included taking No. 10 Oregon to five sets at the Ram Volleyball Classic.
While the match remained close, ASU (19-2, 7-1 Big 12) beat GCU (13-7, 6-2 WAC) 25-23, 25-20, 27-25 to move to 7-0 all-time in the crosstown rivalry.
“You’ve got a bunch of their fans, local, that want to come out and you have a bunch of our fans local who want to come out,” ASU head coach JJ Van Niel said. “I was talking with them right before the match about it. We want this to be recurring because it’s good for volleyball in Arizona. It’s good for the fanbase.”
Despite starting the match with mistakes, Van Niel refused to call a timeout. A 5-0 scoring run helped his side take a 15-14 lead. The hosts would hang on to take the first set.
The second set mimicked the first, with the Maroon and Gold marred with errors, but they kept the edge, once again clinching the set on a putaway from graduate student setter Argentina Ung.
GCU’s push for a set win looked promising, with a 14-8 lead out of the third set, but the Sun Devils stormed back.
They varied their attack with more kills on the slide with graduate student middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede, who was held to zero kills in the first two sets.
The Lopes challenged a couple of calls late. One was successful, denying ASU a 26-24 win. The other failed. The following two points went the hosts’ way as they picked up their fourth consecutive sweep.
“You’re not going to see us with a scared face if we’re losing,” Ung said. “We keep the same straight face all the time. I think that frustrates other teams because they could be like, ‘They’re losing right now. Why is nothing changing?’ So that’s a big thing for us.”
Van Niel’s side was prone to errors throughout the night, making 25-17 on the attack and eight from the service line. The 17 attack errors are the second-most in a three-set match this season, but their opponent also struggled, making 19 errors in total.
Nonetheless, the Sun Devils remained firm on the left side, with graduate student outside hitter Shania Cromartie logging 13 kills while senior outside hitter Geli Cyr had 12. Both played credit to Ung’s passing and a strong backline that made 60 digs on the night.
“We’ve talked about how much digging balls puts so much pressure on the other team,” said graduate student libero Mary Shroll, who led the way with 15 digs. “It puts pressure on them to score, and sometimes, it can result in other teams erroring because they just want to put the ball down.”
Cyr had her fifth consecutive game with double-digit kills and digs, with 12 in both categories Monday night. Redshirt freshman setter Brynn Covell also played well on defense, with 11 digs.
The Sun Devils continue their in-state competition Thursday with a trip to Tucson to face Arizona (13-5). While the Wildcats started the season undefeated in non-conference play, they have struggled to transition to the Big 12, going 2-5 against conference opponents. This included a four-set loss to ASU in Tempe Oct. 9.
Thursday’s matchup could motivate the Maroon and Gold and the postseason. Despite being ranked No. 13 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, they were not in the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee’s recent Top 16 rankings. The top 16 teams host the first two matches of the NCAA Tournament.
“RPI is just a calculation,” Van Niel said. “I wasn’t necessarily surprised…Some of the teams we played maybe underperformed more than we thought they would…That stuff kind of works its stuff out. It is what it is.”
“Arizona loves volleyball,” Shroll said. “I think if we hosted, it would be amazing. It would be really cool.”
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