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UC Davis Beats No. 7 Arizona State
Both teams took exactly 133 swings at the ball. UC Davis hit .271 and Arizona State .143, and the Aggies call it the highest-ranked win in their history.
UC Davis beat No. 7 Arizona State 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21) at Desert Financial Arena on Thursday night, in front of 2,374 people who had come to watch the Sun Devils open at home.
The Aggies are unranked and 3-3. Arizona State is seventh in the coaches' poll, has been there for two weeks, and had won five of its first six matches before Thursday.
Arizona State's head coach did not look for an explanation afterwards, which is why his is the plainest account of the night that anybody has.
JJ Van Niel, the Arizona State head coach, speaking to Jacob Fredericks of Cronkite News.
They played great. We played sh**ty. There is really no excuse. They were on it, and we couldn't get them in trouble at the service line. They were in system all night, and did a nice job offensively. We couldn't slow them down.
Both Teams Took Exactly 133 Swings
Both teams took exactly 133 swings at the ball. UC Davis turned 56 of them into kills against 20 errors and hit .271, with Isabella Umpierre taking 17 of the kills and Mia Starr setting 43 assists.
Arizona State took the same 133 swings, turned 44 of them into kills against 25 errors and hit .143. Noemie Glover's 19 kills were the most that anybody managed on the floor.
Van Niel told Cronkite his team had been “off the net” all evening. Arizona State's setters produced 39 assists to UC Davis's 53 on that identical volume, and the Sun Devils finished with nine blocks to the Aggies' 14.
Arizona State's Libero Answered for the Setters
Faith Frame, the Arizona State libero, to Cronkite News.
Just focusing on putting our setters in a better position. I think we could have passed a little bit better, put her more on the net, so she could run all three options. And then I also just think it just wasn't our night. That's all right. We're gonna come back better.
Van Niel put the rest of it in one name, telling Cronkite that his side could not have Una hitting zero. Una Vajagic took 12 kills, second on her team behind Glover's 19.
The Aggies Call It Their Biggest Win
UC Davis headlined its own report of the match “Aggies Knock Off No. 7 Arizona State In Highest Ranked Win In Program History”. The claim belongs to the school, and nobody on the other side has argued with it.
Ella Lomigora reached 300 career blocks for Arizona State. It is the seventh time in eight matches the Sun Devils have been out-blocked or matched, and the first time it has cost them at home.
Arizona State plays a 5-0 Oregon side in the same arena on Friday night. On Thursday's evidence the Sun Devils are a good team that cannot pass, and Oregon serve well enough to find out.
