ASU beach volleyball took all four games of the ASU/GCU Invitational last weekend, advancing to an overall record of 14-8 and a 7-1 record at home.
The Sand Devils got things rolling with a confident 5-0 victory against UAB to start the tournament, and from that point on, they didn’t look back. The squad only dropped two duels all weekend - their most significant match being a 4-1 win against No. 19 Washington.
Junior Kendall Whitmarsh was feeling good heading into the invitational, and she was most impressed with the way her team opened each match.
"The team as a whole just came out throwing the first punch in all five duels that we had at home this week," Whitmarsh said. "I think that was super important because when we are aggressive and confident, that’s when we sweep teams and play at our best ability."
Whitmarsh and her partner, junior Tori Clement, have now won nine duels in a row and are 10-2 together this season. They were named Big 12 Pair of the Week last weekend after winning four consecutive duels against ranked teams, and the duo maintained their hold on the team-best record, currently 15-7.
The entire group seems to have found some momentum now, but it wasn’t an easy journey to get to this point. The Sand Devils traveled to Hawaii for their opening weekend and faced six teams within the top 12 rankings in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Classic, including No. 1 USC, No. 2 TCU and No. 3 UCLA. ASU came out of Queen’s Beach 1-5, only beating No. 12 Hawaii.
Whitmarsh said that an optimistic mentality helped the team find its footing as the season progressed.
"You don’t want to peak at the start of the season, that’s a saying that we are going by," Whitmarsh said. "Taking a lot of learning opportunities from that first weekend, and now (we’re) building on it, and when we meet these teams again, we’re going to give them a harder fight and eventually come out with the win."
Head coach Kristen Glattfelder said that her team’s positive mentality has been one of the biggest contributors to their success, and she didn’t hesitate to praise each player’s character. Glattfelder said her favorite part about the team has been the culture that they have created together.
"I just love our team," Glattfelder said. "We have a great group of ladies that are super passionate about the sport, that are just fun to be around and truly care and love each other on and off the court and that’s hard to come by."
Last week was only the Sand Devils’ second home stint this season. Glattfelder was happy to be back, and the home crowd got her excited about the growth of the program.
"I mean it’s amazing," Glattfelder said. "There is nowhere else we’d rather be than home. We have an amazing facility, I love the fan support we’ve been getting, seeing other teams coming out and supporting us and cheering us on. And (we’re) even getting a lot of new faces, it’s exciting for our program, and we want to continue to build that."
With just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, ASU will look to build on the momentum that they’ve harnessed recently. The team is not short of potential, and every player is completely bought into the program.
Redshirt junior Ava Kirunchyk loves the progress that the squad has made throughout the season, and she feels like they can take on anybody if they keep it up.
"Honestly, I feel like our potential is unlimited," said Kirunchyk. "When we work this hard and we play like this I feel like we’re unstoppable, so I hope we can carry that throughout the season."
Over the next two weeks, ASU is slated for rematches with No. 2 UCLA, TCU (15-3) twice and Loyola Marymount (24-2). The first of the two matches against TCU is on April 5, but Whitmarsh fully embraces the challenge.
“I think it’s actually really cool being the underdogs in matches because you go out there and give whatever you possibly can give,” said Whitmarsh. “They’re a great team as well, but I know with our energy and our potential, we have a great opportunity coming.”
ASU’s next match is against No. 8 Pepperdine in the Wildcat Spring Challenge, and it’s set for April 4 at noon in Tucson.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Ramirez and Katrina Michalak.
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Ethan is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his first semester at The State Press. He has also worked at Blaze Radio.
