Game 1:
First year head coach Sanja Tomasevic was able to ring in her first career victory with ASU early Friday afternoon thanks to stellar performances by sophomore Ivana Jeremic, senior Oluoma Okaro and freshman Griere Hughes.
The Weber State Wildcats may have scored the opening point on an attack error by Hughes, but the Sun Devils responded quickly with back to back kills by Okaro.
ASU would withstand attacks by the Wildcats throughout the set, ultimately only falling behind once in the match, after an attack error by freshman Shelbie Dobmeier.
ASU was on the offensive attack the rest of the first set and was able to go on a 19-11 run with the help of Jeremic and Hughes who led the team with 5 and 4 kills respectfully.
The momentum lasted into the second set where the Sun Devils would dominate on offense with a 5-0 run early on. Multiple Sun Devils were able to get on the board and kills were registered for Okaro, Dobmeier, Hughes, Peyton and Grahovac during that period.
Things slowed down for the Devils after two unforced errors cut their lead down. The Wildcats mounted a comeback, bringing ASU's lead down to seven before the Sun Devils were forced to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats let the game slip away as the Sun Devils were able to find openings in their defense and built off the opposing team's errors.
The third set of the day was more competitive, however ASU was able to open up with three unanswered points thanks to a kill by Jeremic and an attack error by Wildcat Hannah Hill.
Despite ASU’s offensive run, Weber State kept close with the Sun Devils with the help of senior Amanda Varley.
Varley led the Wildcats with 14 kills and a solo block. For the Sun Devils, Jeremic, Okaro, and Hughes were all able to reach double digits in kills with 14, 13 and 12 respectfully. Jeremic also led the team in blocks with 3.
Game 2:
The second match of the day proved to be a difficult start for the Sun Devils, as North Dakota State was able to get early kills by Erika Gelzinyte, McKenzie Burke and Emily Halverson. The first set could be described as a game of errors, as the Bison allowed the Sun Devils to stay in the game and tied with them after committing four errors.
While errors may have kept them in the game, two kills by Grahovac and Hughes brought the Sun Devils back into action. Hughes helped extend the lead to 18-14, with two back-to-back kills.
Toward the end of the second set the Sun Devils were struggling behind the Bison, but heading into a timeout the team talked about staying composed, something Dobmeier spoke about afterward.
“We were just talking about keeping our rythym and keeping what we normally do, not doing anything too crazy or anything out of system,” Dobmeier said.
Okaro reiterated her point.
“We just hit our reset button,” Okaro said. “It’s easy to get off the track of what you're used to, like the normal system we run, but we just hit the reset and got right back on it.”
After an exhilarating second period, the third and final set was just as exciting. The Sun Devils began the set with a 5-0 run and kept their lead throughout the match. Back-to-back kills by Jeremic allowed the Devils to extend their lead further. Multiple attack errors by the Bison had a hand in ASU’s success.
Despite an attempt by the Bison to force a comeback, it was decimated by two service aces by Okaro.
The 25-16 win for the Sun Devils allowed them to be undefeated thus far in the Sun Devil Volleyball Classic and led head coach Tomasevic to her first career wins as a coach for the Sun Devils.
Tomasevic said that while the games weren’t always pretty, they talked about staying patient and not falling into traps.
“We went through our 21 practices and all I can think about is how blessed we are that they’re not fighting us at all,” Tomasevic said. “They’re buying into our system, they’re buying into our culture.”
The Sun Devils hope to close out the Sun Devil Volleyball Classic undefeated on Saturday where they will take on Boise State at 5pm.
Reach the reporter at klbroder@asu.edu or follow @KellyB1459 on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
