The ASU beach volleyball team dropped only one individual match in a dominant 4-0 weekend at the Lucky 66 Bowl in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
There’s no place like home in the desert.
Following an eight-match swing in the California coast, the ASU beach volleyball team flourished in their return to familiar territory, finishing with a 4-0 record against opponents Abilene Christian, Colorado Mesa (twice), and New Mexico at the Lucky 66 Bowl in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The undefeated weekend extends ASU’s match winning streak to five after the team had dropped six straight.
With the exception of the No. 2 pairing, each Sun Devil lineup finished with an 8-0 mark in sets throughout the four matches. The team’s three sweeps over Abilene Christian and Colorado Mesa marked the first time the Sun Devils had swept an opponent since last season’s defeat of Stanford at the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships.
The Sun Devils will now get ready to return to the state of Arizona for three matches in Tucson Friday afternoon and two matches in Tempe Saturday evening.
Let’s take a look at how each match fared for the team over the weekend.
Abilene Christian (5-0 W)
The Sun Devils kicked off Friday evening’s tournament action on a high note, defeating the Abilene Christian Wildcats by a score of five matches to none without dropping a single set.
Kwyn Johnson and Mia Rivera snapped a six-match losing streak as a pair and an eight-match losing streak at ASU’s No. 1 position, defeating ACU’s Jacey Smith and Kendall Bosse by scores of 21-8 and 21-11.
Sydney Palmer and Kara Woodard built upon their most recent win against Washington, taking down Lauren Walker and Brooke Riley by consecutive scores of 21-14 in the No. 2 match.
The Sun Devils’ star duo of Katelyn Carballo and Ellyson Lundberg put forth another strong performance in the No. 3 match, commanding each set against Katelyn Mueller and Eighmy Dobbins by scores of 21-7 and 21-12.
Katie Cross and Cierra Flood extended their match win streak to three in their 21-17, 21-16 victory over ACU’s No. 4 duo of Kennedy Shelstead and Amy Weiss, while freshmen Samantha Plaster and Kate Baldwin extended a four-win streak with a sweep over Paris Cosley and Sofia Resendiz by scores of 21-10 and 21-5.
Colorado Mesa (5-0 W)
The Sun Devils concluded their Friday duals with another 5-0 sweep over the Colorado Mesa Mavericks. Like their first match, ASU didn’t drop a set, finishing their first day of the tournament without a loss in any pairing.
Johnson and Rivera persevered with a 21-13, 21-18 victory over CMU’s best pairing in Katie Scherr and Taylor Woods. The victory marked the first time that the two reigning Pac-12 All-Academic honorees had notched consecutive match wins this season.
Adding to their three-match win streak were Palmer and Woodard at the No. 2 slot, defeating Hana Peterman and Megan Gianinetti by scores of 21-14 and 21-13.
Carballo and Lundberg took care of Samantha Ritter and Kasie Gilfert in quick fashion, defeating the pair in two consecutive 21-12 sets. Cross and Flood followed suit in the No. 4 match with a 21-7, 21-9 victory over Lindy Dixon and Hailey Crane.
After a 21-11 victory in the first set, Plaster and Baldwin helped secure the ASU sweep by warding off Natalee Todd and Ara Norwood in the second set, 21-16.
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New Mexico (4-1 W)
The Sun Devils dropped their only two sets of the weekend in their opening match Saturday against the New Mexico Lobos, defeating the tournament hosts by a score of four matches to one.
After providing some stability in ASU’s turbulent No. 2 lineup, Palmer and Woodard slumped in their match against Eastyn Baleto and Lauren Twitty, dropping a lopsided 21-12 second set after barely falling in the first set by a score of 21-19.
After taking their first set, Johnson and Rivera found themselves in a tight battle with Maddie Irwin and Erin Martin in their No. 1 matchup. With the lead constantly switching hands, Johnson and Rivera became resilient and pulled out a 24-22 victory in the second set to win their match.
Carballo and Lundberg preceded the top matches with another tight affair against Chloe Crappell and Yasmin Tan in the No. 3 game. However, the experience of ASU’s pair led to late runs that resulted in 21-15 and 21-17 set victories to take the match.
Prior to three tough matches, Cross and Flood and Plaster and Baldwin were able to add on to the set dominance that the Sun Devils had seen in day one of the tournament. ASU’s No. 4 pairing defeated Carly Beddingfield and Mercedes Pacheco by set scores of 21-9 and 21-7, while the No. 5 duo comfortably defeated Kayla Long and Abbey Willison by tallies of 21-16 and 21-12.
Colorado Mesa (5-0 W)
The Sun Devils finished their time at the Lucky 66 Bowl in comparable fashion to their first day of the tournament, winning their second matchup against Colorado Mesa by an identical 5-0 score with a 10-0 set record throughout the matches.
Johnson and Rivera would again face off against Scherr and Woods, this time defeating the pair by set scores of 21-12 and 21-13. The victory extended the No. 1 pair’s win streak to four matches going into next week’s Pac-12 slate.
Natalie Braun and Frances Giedraitis returned to the No. 2 lineup for the first time since ASU’s loss to UCLA back on March 24. The pair would comfortably win in the team’s second match against Peterman and Gianinetti, taking the sets by scores of 21-11 and 21-6.
Carballo and Lundberg extended their match win streak to five with a similar 21-13, 21-12 match victory over new opponents Dixon and Crane in the No. 3 matchup.
Cross and Flood would hold off a late run from Ritter and Gilfert to conclude a two-set victory in the No. 4 game with a 22-20 second set win. Plaster and Baldwin would follow through with a 21-11, 21-16 victory over Todd and Norwood to help ASU complete the match sweep.
Next: ASU Beach Volleyball: Sun Devils go 1-3 in Pac-12 South Invitational
The Sun Devils (8-10) will now get ready to travel to Tucson on Friday to face California at 1 p.m PT, Colorado Mesa at 4 p.m. and Arizona at 6 p.m. ASU will then return to the PERA Club in Tempe Saturday night to take on Stetson at 3 p.m. PT and Vanguard at 7 p.m.