The Sun Devils start this tournament repping the gold jerseys, adding a bright color to the court. 

After a slow start in the first set, ASU was able to battle back out of its four-point deficit and secure the win 25-21. 

Junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover has returned to the court since last competing against Pitt earlier this month. Glover finished this lone set with four kills and two blocks, making an impact on the score. 

Redshirt junior middle blocker Vanessa Polk for the Waves made it difficult for the Sun Devils to keep up with her massive blocks and swings. Polk played a very smart set. 

Same as Glover, graduate student middle blocker Colby Neal had two total blocks to wrap up the first set. Neal put up a huge block that carried throughout the whole match. 

Sophomore opposite hitter Maggie Beauer racked up a total of nine kills for the Waves, becoming the team leader in kills.

Senior setter Sydney Henry made strong connections with her hitters this match. She had a stellar match, finishing with 28 assists.  

“It’s quite easy when I have amazing hitters who literally do anything with any set. The passers are doing an amazing job to get me in a good position and our hitters are all so unique and so diverse in their own way,” Henry said. 

In the start of the second set, Glover came out swinging right in between the Waves defense in the back row, making the ball untouchable. Her high IQ led the Sun Devils with the most kills. 

With a four-point lead in the second set, the long rally between the two teams ended with a massive swing from redshirt freshman outside hitter Kiylah Pressley. Both teams blocked each other back-to-back, looking for someone to execute the play. 

The Sun Devils wrapped up a tight scoring second set with a perfect ace from junior outside hitter Jillian Neal (27-25).

After coming off an emotionally high set, ASU put up a 5-0 lead against the Waves. The Sun Devils had the opposing team scrambling across the court. 

Glover once again took huge swings down the line on the right side of the court, making it extremely difficult for Pepperdine to pick it up. She finished the night with a total of 14 kills and five blocks.

The Sun Devils dominated in the last set 25-15. Head Coach JJ Van Niel was pleased with how the last set ended. 

“I thought in that last set we served very well and put a lot of pressure on them. We did a nice job defensively,” Van Niel said. “The third set was really nice to see them just really come out and execute.”

ASU returns to the Desert Financial Arena tomorrow to face the valley rivals, Grand Canyon University. The Sun Devils last saw them in the spring, defeating the Lopes in five sets. 

“I think we have just had that mindset of practice of how we can make the most and put 100 percent into every single rep that we can get so that when it is on the court, it is perfection,” Glover said.