The Blaze

FINAL: ASU: 3 UCLA: 1     ASU UPSETS NO. 10 UCLA

By Greg Dillard

ASU's victories against No. 5 USC and No. 10 UCLA are two of the biggest victories of coach Jason Watson's tenure in Tempe. Photo by Evan Fisher

Could Friday night’s magic return tonight at Wells Fargo Arena?

The ASU volleyball team hosts No. 10 UCLA tonight in a premier Saturday night matchup. The Sun Devils (7-11, 2-4 Pac-10) and Bruins (13-4, 3-3) split the series last season as both teams won at home.

ASU hopes to duplicate some of its incredible play from last night’s game against USC. The Sun Devils defeated the Trojans 3-1 for their first win against USC since 1995.

ASU senior outside hitter Sarah Reaves lead the team with 17 kills. While sophomore middle blocker Erica Wilson slammed 11 kills of her own. Freshman outside hitter Danica Mendivil and junior middle blocker Sonja Markanovich added 10 and 9 kills respectively.

UCLA opened the weekend with a matchup against No. 25 UA in Tucson. It took five sets, but the Bruins were able to hold off the Wildcats in the end. UCLA won the match 22-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-15, and 16-14.

The Sun Devils and Bruins will get underway in about 20 minutes.

Sun Devil Starting Lineup:

• Sonja Markanovich
• Jenny Teslevich
• Stephanie Preach
• Cat Highmark
  
• Erica Wilson
• Sarah Johnson
• Sarah Reaves

1st set: We are underway here in Tempe, it’s tied 1-1.

ASU and UCLA are battling early on, Markanovich ties it at 4 for ASU.

After Mendivil’s kill made it 13-14 UCLA, the Bruins responded with another point. The Sun Devil offense responded themselves when Highmark set Wilson who slammed the kill.

Sarah Reaves shrinks UCLA’s lead to two, 15-17 with a kill.

The Sun Devils have put themselves in a small hole, but are inching their way back. ASU has narrowed the deficit to 20-22, prompting a UCLA timeout.

ASU completes the comeback and after several tie scores and service errors to keep the Bruins in the game, Sarah Reaves took care of business with yet another kill to seal the deal and give ASU the opening set victory, 28-26.

2nd set: ASU off to a strong start 6-2 start. UCLA coach Mike Sealy calls the timeout.

The Sun Devils are excited, playing good volleyball, and look confident. They have the Bruins scrambling so far. Time to run with it for the Devils.

The Bruins are not done yet, it’s 9-7 ASU thanks to a UCLA service error. Preach to serve for ASU.

Highmark sets to Mendivil who smacks the kill- 10-7!

UCLA attempting to make a comeback, but a service error gives ASU a point and the serve. Teslevich to serve. 20-16 ASU

It’s gamepoint SUN DEVILS, 24-19!

The Sun Devils grab a 2-0 match lead heading into the break! 25-19 over UCLA in second set!

3rd set: After UCLA’s kill, Highmark set to Wilson who smacked a kill to tie the score early on.

After a 6-2 start for ASU, UCLA’s Mike Sealy calls the timeout. It’ll be interested to see if they Bruins show any life here in the 3rd set down 0-2.

They faced several deficits last night against UA, but were able to overcome them. ASU has to keep UCLA in check.

Erica Wilson unloads with a kill to make it 10-7 ASU, but a service error from Preach gives UCLA a point and the serve. 10-8 now

ASU leads 15-12, but UCLA trying to hang tough with the Devils. Bruins seem overmatched at times. That’s surprising given their No. 10 ranking in the NATION.

It’s 23-22 ASU, Watson calls the timeout

At 24-24, a Sun Devil block goes out of bounds to give UCLA a point and a 25-24 lead. Watson calls timeout!

The Bruins make things interesting by winning the 4th set 26-24 to force a 4th set. ASU leads the match 2-1.

4th set: Reaves gets things rolling for ASU with a kill. ASU leads 2-0 with Wilson back to serve.

ASU gets off to a 4-0 start before Wilson served it into the net.

UCLA hits the service ace to make it 4-2 ASU. UCLA’s Sara Sage with two consecutive service aces to make it 3-4.

The Bruins have tied this set at 9 apiece, then take the lead 10-9 over ASU.

Setter Cat Highmark sets Mendivil who smacks the kill to make it 10-10.

After a service  ace by ASU’s Wilson , she serves it into the net to give the Bruins a point, ASU still led 13-12. However, UCLA’s kill tied it at 13.

ASU makes it 18-15 and prompts a UCLA timeout. Can ASU run with its lead?

So far the answer is YESSSS!  After the timeout, ASU adds to its lead 20-15.  UCLA TIMEOUT!

Sarah Reaves smacks it to give ASU a 23-19 lead

Reaves strikes again to give ASU another 3-1 uspet win.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 17th, 2010 at 1:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.