ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils drop heartbreaking match against Oregon State

Despite taking the first set and finding a rhythm early on, the Sun Devils couldn’t come back from key lapses and fell in a tough loss against Oregon State on Friday night (29-27, 17-25, 16-25, 23-25).

Going into tonight’s match against Oregon State, one thing was made completely clear by assistant coach Carlos Moreno.

His girls deserved to win this match.

With head coach Sanja Tomasevic staying back in Arizona expecting her first child, coach Moreno let the girls know how important this match was not only for them, but for Tomasevic during her time away. They’d worked too hard to be 0-8 in conference play, and tonight was the night they were going to win.

The Sun Devils opened the first set by playing inspired volleyball, picking up right where they’d left off from their match against Utah last Sunday.

From the first serve, Nicole Peterson made it clear that she wanted to establish her big hitters early on. She found Oly Okaro for two kills at a hard angle, followed by an outside kill from Griere hughes to open up a 4-1 advantage for the Sun Devils.

Shortly after, the Beavers flashed their own weapons. Reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Mary-Kate Marshall got going with two kills at the net, and Kylee McLaughlin served aggressively to bring the score even at 5-5.

After switching possession of the serve, things seemed to be starting to go south for the Sun Devils. Kylee McLaughlin found her way at the service line again, and the Beavers went on a quick 3-0 run to go ahead 13-10.

Despite momentum seemingly switching, Peterson found Oly Okaro to kill the run, and a pair of blocks from the from Peterson and Carmen Unzue jumped the Devils back into contention as ASU took a 16-15 advantage.

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For the next several points, a hitter’s duel went down at the net between Hughes and Okaro of ASU and Cheshire and Bennett of Oregon State. With spectacular blocks and thunderous kills made from each team’s respective duo, a 25-25 resulted into a tense overtime.

The Sun Devils would go on to take game point four times in the extra time, and a kill from Griere Hughes ended a back-and-forth affair to help the Devils take set one 29-27.

In the second set, the tight competition ensued, as neither team could break ahead through the first ten points of the match. However, a service error by Okaro gave the Beavers the ball back, and they used a float-service ace from Kory Cheshire and a Maddy Gravley kill to take an 8-5 advantage.

Out of the timeout called by coach Moreno, a kill by Oly Okaro in the back-row made it seem as if the Sun Devils would kickstart a run of their own.

Unfortunately, the case was exactly the opposite.

In spite of keeping the match within two points at 14-12, the Sun Devils started to implode in the passing game. Maddie Goings and Kory Cheshire each recorded service aces during an 8-1 Oregon State run, and the Sun Devils soon fell behind 22-13.

However, Courtney Leffel came into the match to serve, and showed no quit as she served four straight points to force an Oregon State timeout at 22-17.

After the timeout, the Sun Devils lost a tough point, as a kill by Mary-Kate Marshall got the Oregon State crowd out of their seats with a huge spark of energy. The Devils couldn’t cool the wildfire that was the Beaver momentum, and a block by Haylie Bennett gave the Beavers set two 25-17.

At the start of set three, the Sun Devils looked as if the intermission had reinvigorated fresh live into their play. Courtney Leffel returned to serve for ASU, and kills from Oly Okaro and Ivana Jeremic helped the Devils jump out to a quick 6-2 advantage.

A kill by Maddy Gravley stopped the Leffel run, and the Devils found themselves once again in a tight set. Strong serving from Maddie Goings allowed Mary-Kate Marshall to ignite a spark in the third set, and a 5-0 Beaver run later tied the set at nine points apiece.

After regaining a 12-11 edge, the Sun Devils looked as if they’d be able to go on another run to prove their mark on the set, as another Oly Okaro kill seemed to confront the Beavers with a power they couldn’t handle.

Right on cue, Oregon State shut out the Sun Devils with a wicked serving run by Mary-Kate Marshall, as she accumulated a service ace and threw the Sun Devil passing game in turmoil with a 9-0 run to help her team take a 20-12 stranglehold in the set.

The Sun Devils couldn’t respond with a run of their own, and Oregon State eventually took the set 25-16.

In the fourth set, the Devils played catch-up from the very beginning. Marshall recorded three kills in the early going, and the Sun Devils quickly found themselves in a 10-7 hole. For the next several points, the two teams constantly changed possession of the serve, and the time for ASU to make a run was slowly dwindling.

After the Beavers took a 20-15 advantage, that last push for the Sun Devils came through, as Oly Okaro contributed to two combined blocks and tallied a kill to spark a 4-0 run for ASU in crunch time.

The Beavers responded with two quick points, but then Isabel Miller came and delivered two clutch kills to improbably tie the set at 22 for the Sun Devils.

Despite the valiant effort, the Sun Devils couldn’t close their comeback attempt down the stretch, as a kill from Mary-Kate Marshall gave the Beavers the set 25-23 and the match three sets to one.

For Carlos Moreno and the Sun Devils, a match the team could’ve pulled out once again ended in heartbreak, and the loss dropped the team to 0-9 in Pac-12 play.

Okaro, Hughes and Jeremic combined for 45 kills on the night, and Halle Harker contributed added 24 digs in the losing effort.

Next: ASU Volleyball: Devils look to end skid in Corvallis

The Sun Devils will travel next to Eugene, Oregon, to take on the 15th-ranked Oregon Ducks on Saturday evening. The first serve of the match will be at 7 p.m. PST and can be viewed via the Oregon Live Stream.