Sponcil Paces Balanced Attack as #13 UCLA Tops Arizona State in 4

  0 Bill Stadick | October 07th, 2017 | College - Women's Indoor, News, Pac 12

MATCH NOTES

  • #18 UCLA def. Arizona State 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19)
  • UCLA moves to 11-4, 4-2 Pac-12
  • Arizona State drops to 10-7, 0-5 Pac-12
  • Tempe, Arizona
  • Attendance: 1,107
  • Box Score
  • VolleyMob Top 25 (Week 7)

Senior setter Sarah Sponcil dished out 48 assists to pace a balanced offensive attack as the #13 UCLA Bruins defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils in four sets.

Sophomore middle Madeline Gates notched 15 kills and recorded two solo blocks, while freshman outsides Mac May and Jenny Mosser each had 13 kills. Other key contributors for UCLA included senior outside Reily Buechler, who recorded a double-double (12 kills, 16 digs), and junior Zana Muno, who tallied 24 digs.

For the Sun Devils, senior middle Oluoma Okaro registered her sixth double-double of the season (14 kills, 13 digs), while sophomore outside Ivana Jeremic notched 13 kills and freshman setter Shelbie Dobmeier added 41 assists. Senior Halle Harker dug 24 Bruin swings to bring her career total to 1,727, remaining at #3 all-time in the Sun Devils record book.

Set one was all UCLA as they won 25-14 on the strength of 20 kills and a .588 hitting percentage. Arizona State answered in the second, leading from the start on their way to a 25-20 victory.

The third frame was the closest of the four, featuring nine ties and five lead changes, before UCLA pulled away for its own 25-20 set win. In the fourth, Arizona held early leads, but six consecutive points by the Bruins put the set and match out of reach for the Sun Devils.

The Sun Devils host #12 USC on Saturday, while the UCLA Bruins play next on Friday, Oct. 13 when they host #3 Stanford.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics

#13 Bruins Win Third Straight, Beating ASU

TEMPE, Ariz. – The 13th-ranked Bruins had a balanced offensive attack, with sophomore Madeleine Gates leading the way with 15 kills, freshmen Mac May and Jenny Mosser each recording 13 and senior Reily Buechler adding 12, as UCLA won its third match in a row with a four-set victory at Arizona State on Friday at Wells Fargo Arena. Set scores were 25-14, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19.

Senior Sarah Sponcil set the Bruins to a .297 hitting percentage and tallied 48 assists, eight digs and four kills. Gates (.462) and May (.455) each hit over .400. Buechler recorded a double-double, adding 16 digs, while Mosser notched seven digs. Junior Zana Muno tallied 24 digs, junior Kyra Rogers had six kills and five digs and sophomore Savvy Simo posted 11 digs.

The largest deficit for UCLA (11-4, 4-2 Pac-12) in set one was one on a few occasions. Down 3-2, two Gates kills, one by Sponcil and a Buechler ace put the Bruins up 6-3, a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the opener. Up 17-12, UCLA scored eight of the final 10 points to take the first by a score of 25-14. The first 5-0 run came on kills by Buechler, May, Mosser and Rogers and a Rogers/Mosser block. The last two points of the set came on kills by Rogers and Buechler to wrap up the 11-point win. UCLA had 20 kills and no hitting errors in the first in 34 swings (.588). Mosser was 5-for-10, Gates and Rogers were each 4-for-6, May was 3-for-5 and Buechler was 3-for-6.

Arizona State (10-7, 0-5 Pac-12) led from start to finish in set two to even things heading into intermission. In the middle of the set, the Bruins trailed 16-12 before scoring three in a row on a Mosser kill and two ASU errors. But the one-point deficit was as close as the Bruins would get for the rest of the set, dropping the second 25-20. Muno recorded 10 digs in the set, Gates added four kills and Buechler had three, as the Bruins were out-hit .286 to .163.

Set three was the closest of the match with nine ties and five lead changes. Even at nine, the Bruins scored four in a row on two May kills, a Gates solo block and an ASU error, as UCLA led for the remainder of the set. The Bruins’ biggest lead of set three was five, as a Gates kill on UCLA’s second set point finished off a 25-20 win. May had seven kills in the third, Buechler and Mosser each posted three and Muno added five digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Sun Devils .375 to .107.

Arizona State held slim two-point leads at 2-0 and 3-1, but six in a row for the Bruins on two Gates kills and a solo block, two Buechler kills and a May kill put UCLA up for good at 7-3. The Sun Devils would draw even at 11 and 12, but could not re-take the lead. At 21-19, the Bruins ran out the match with the final four on an ASU service error, May and Mosser kills and a Sun Devil attack error to win the fourth 25-19. Gates had five kills in the fourth, Buechler added three kills and five digs and Mosser recorded three kills. Muno posted eight digs and Simo had six. The Bruins out-hit the Sun Devils .163 to .093.

The Bruins are back home at Pauley Pavilion next Friday, Oct. 13, hosting #2 Stanford at 6 p.m. The match will air on Pac-12 Networks and will also feature free live audio on UCLABruins.com.

Courtesy: Arizona State Athletics

@SunDevilVB Battles to Four Sets; Falls to No. 13 UCLA

By Nicole Praga, SDA Media Relations Graduate Assistant

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State volleyball team (10-7, 0-5 Pac-12) battled the No. 13 UCLA Bruins (11-4, 4-2 Pac-12) to four sets Friday night in Wells Fargo Arena, but ultimately fell, 14-25, 25-20, 20-25, 19-25.

“There were moments tonight where we played well and there were moments where we played extremely disappointing,” said head coach Sanja Tomasevic. “We made mistakes that seventh or eighth graders would make – colliding on the court, bumping the ball out of bounds, missing the rotations we’re in – things that are completely under our control and things that we should never even be thinking about reminding them as coaches at this level. But there’s some things that I thought were good tonight, and I think we need to keep perspective that this is a young team and we’re going to build on it and try to eliminate some of the not-so-smart mistakes we made.”

Senior Oluoma Okaro led the Sun Devils with 14 kills and 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Okaro has posted double-digit kills in 15 of 17 matches this season. The senior leader also had two huge solo blocks. Sophomore Ivana Jeremic recorded 13 kills for her eighth match this season with double-digits in that category.

Junior transfer Peyton Grahovac added seven kills on .385 attacking. Freshman setter Shelbie Dobmeier had 41 assists, her fourth match with 40+ assists this season.

Senior Halle Harker added 24 digs for the Sun Devils to bring her career total to 1,727, remaining at No. 3 in the Sun Devil record book.

For the Bruins, four players recorded double-digit kills, with Madeleine Gates leading the pack with 15.

Up next, the Sun Devils remain in Wells Fargo Arena to take on the No. 15 USC Trojans (12-4, 4-1 Pac-12) Saturday evening. The game will be livestreamed on TheSunDevils.com. The match will be the Sun Devil Volleyball’s Breast Cancer Awareness Match. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to show support for breast cancer awareness.

Match Notes
Kills: Okaro (14), Jeremic (13)
Digs: Harker (24), Okaro (13), Leffel (11)
Double-Doubles: Okaro (6th, 14 kills and 13 digs)
Assists: Dobmeier (41)
Blocks: Okaro (2)

ASU Career Dig Leaders
1. Sydney Donahue, 2004-07 – 2385
2. Stephanie Preach, 2010-13 – 2010
3. Halle Harker, 2014-present – 1727
4. Christy Nore, 1985-88 – 1597
5. Jami Coughlin, 1998-2001 – 1528

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