Devils Drop Dual to No. 3 Stanford
TEMPE – In their first dual at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, No. 6 seed Sun Devil Beach Volleyball fell 3-0 to No. 3 seed Stanford. Arizona State will play tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. MST against No. 7 seed Arizona.
Arizona State (19-8) came up short in the rematch against Stanford (29-3) and falls to the contenders bracket. Against ranked teams this season, ASU is now 9-8. The matchup against Arizona will be the fifth meeting all-time between ASU and Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Sun Devils are 1-3 in those duals against their in-state rival. The lone win in the conference tournament against Arizona came in 2022. Last season, the Wildcats won the tournament matchup, 3-1. This season, these teams went 1-1 against each other, with both teams winning on their home courts by the same 3-2 score.
The most dramatic court for the Sand Devils was the fours, which saw a new pair of senior Kate Fitzgerald and redshirt sophomore Ava Kirunchyk. After dropping their first set, they came back to win the set to force a third. Ultimately, they came up short in the third, 15-12.
The No. 3 pair of senior Taryn Ames and graduate Lexi Sweeney were in solid position before their game was abandoned. They won the first set in extra points, 23-21.
Results (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1*)
- Hodel/Rockwell (STAN) def. Daniella Kensinger/Ava Williamson (ASU) 21-19, 21-11
- Sorra/Wilson (STAN) def. Arden Besecker/Anya Pemberton (ASU) 21-12, 21-16
- Taryn Ames/Lexi Sweeney (ASU) vs. Belardi/Hoffman (STAN) 23-21, 3-3 DNF
- Reilly/Stowell (STAN) def. Kate Fitzgerald/Ava Kirunchyk (ASU) 21-17, 19-21, 15-12
- Ava Haughy/Adriana Nieves Papaleo (ASU) vs. Harvey/Vincent (STAN) 4-2 DNF
Up Next
Arizona State will play either Arizona or Oregon on Thursday (tomorrow) at 1:45 p.m. MST. It will be live on the Pac-12 Network, as all tournament duals are. The full tournament website is here.
Quotes:
Head Coach Kristen Rohr:
On the message to the team going forward:
"Stanford is a great team. They came out and played really well. They played hard, we played hard. We had a new partnership in the fours and I was really pleased with what they did. Lexi and Taryn came in and though they didn't get to finish their match, I really liked what I was seeing out of them. So, the message is that the good news is we're not out. We're going to come back and be ready to go with whoever comes out of that part of the contenders bracket for who we will play. I like the volleyball that we're playing right now and the message is just to keep rolling, going into this next game."
Senior Kate Fitzgerald:
On the message going into the contender's bracket:
"I'm really proud of us. That was our (she and Ava Kirunchyk) first big game playing together and I think we battled. It could have gone either way and I'm ready to go tomorrow. I think we're ready to play together tomorrow and just show everyone that we're here to play. We're here to stay at a high level with high level competition."
Redshirt sophomore Ava Kirunchyk:
On what the mindset was coming into Pac-12 championships:
"We just wanted to come out and show them what Sun Devil Beach Volleyball is all about. Ranking doesn't matter, it's anyone's game on any given day. I think we really showed that and we competed hard."