TEMPE, Ariz. — For the first three sets in Arizona State’s (3-1) Friday night clash with Florida Gulf Coast (2-2), a feeling of uneasiness cast over the Sun Devil Volleyball sideline.
Despite the Maroon and Gold being the No. 7 team in the country, FGCU made it close several times in the opening three sets, winning one of them and threatening to pull off a huge upset.
Ultimately, ASU’s talent prevailed, as the Sun Devils overcame early struggles to beat the Eagles in the opening game of the Nore-Stahl Classic, 3-1, at Desert Financial Arena. Four Arizona State players reached double-digit kills en route to their first home game of the season.
The victory comes after ASU drew a mixed bag of results last weekend in the State Farm Volleyball Showcase. Van Niel’s side upset then-No. 2 Penn State, but were swept the day after by then-No. 9 Pitt. Though Friday’s win may not have been the cleanest of his ASU tenure, the coach emphasized the importance of prevailing in different ways.
“You’ve got to know how to win ugly,” Van Niel said after the game. “It was a little ugly in those first few sets, we found a way to battle through and get some of those.”
Injuries played a part in affecting the Sun Devils on Friday night, as junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover, who leads ASU in kills (55) and recently received the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week award, did not suit up for Van Niel’s side. He later said that he is unsure of the Glovers’ timetable for return. She’s doubtful for Sunday’s match against Loyola Marymount.
It showed early, as Sparky squeaked by some FGCU pressure in the first set. Five serving errors hurt Arizona State early in the game, but Van Niel’s crew responded strongly. After trailing 14-10, the team went on a 10-3 run to take a three-point advantage. Despite Florida Gulf Coast keeping it close — scoring three straight points during ASU’s set point — ASU did not surrender the lead, securing the first set win, 25-23.
The second set proved to be closer. The visitors once again flew out of the gates early, taking a 9-5 lead in the opening minutes. FGCU took another 14-10 lead, but unlike the first set, the Eagles held onto the advantage for several serves deep into the set.
Senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott leveled the game for the Sun Devils at 17-17 with her seventh kill of the game, but FGCU responded with two straight points to restore the Eagles’ lead.
With the game tied at 20-20, FGCU struck three kills and added a point due to an attacking error to lead 24-21. Graduate outside hitter Barbara Koehler put the set on ice when she registered her eighth kill of the game to secure the set victory for the Eagles.
“We played a team that’s a little different than what we’ll probably play in the Big 12,” Van Niel said. “They’re kind of small, scrappy, chipping stuff inside the block. Every time you play a team, you’ve got to take away some stuff from them and kind of learn how to deal with that. It just adds to (the team’s) experience.”
The Eagles took another early lead in the third set, but ASU returned the favor, restoring its advantage following a 7-2 run. During the set, senior outside hitter Bailey Miller equaled her career-high at Arizona State in number of kills, chipping in her 13th kill to give the Maroon and Gold a 13-9 lead.
“I’ve been working a lot with Sid (senior Sydney Henry) on our connection, because it hasn’t been there the past couple of games,” Miller said on what was the difference in her performance. “We’ve been working a lot in practice to get that connection down, and it was just working tonight.”
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Kiylah Presley also reached her season-high kills tally, racking up 11 kills as the Sun Devils went on to secure another tight set victory, 25-23.
By the time the fourth set arrived, Sparky reached its full stride. Van Niel’s side began with an 11-0 run, and extended its lead at one point to 22-9 in the set. The Sun Devils clinched the victory with a 25-13 fourth-set win.
While not the cleanest win, Miller recognizes that good teams find ways to win, and ultimately, scrappy victories could benefit the team in the long run.
“We don’t want to be peaking right now,” she said. “We know that there are a lot of things we can improve on, and we know we will improve on them. I think if we were at our 100% right now, we wouldn’t be at that point at the end of the season. I think getting those wrinkles out in the beginning is really important.”
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