Arizona State Sun Devils volleyball turns back Georgia 3-0 in first-round NCAA match
One of the best seasons in Arizona State volleyball history continues.
The Sun Devils opened NCAA play with a first round win over Georgia 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-20) Friday at Brigham Young. With the win ASU improves to 27-6. They advance to play No. 4 seed and host BYU (25-6), which defeated Weber State 3-0 (25-15, 15-16, 27-25).
ASU is back in the postseason for the first time since 2015, which was the bookend of four-straight postseason appearances for the Sun Devils. This is the 20th tournament appearance in the 50th season of the program. The last time ASU won an NCAA Tournament game was in 2014 when the team made it to the second round.
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Senior Marta Levinska led the attack with 17 kills, hitting .464 for the match. She also had four blocks. Celi Cyr added 10 kills and seven digs while setter Shannon Shields had 28 assists and three blocks. Maddie McLaughlin had a team-high seven blocks while Mary Shroll led the team in service aces with six.
ASU was in total control of the first two games but was challenged in the third. Georgia pulled even at 18-18 in the third set on an ASU ball-handing error. But ASU went back ahead, getting the next point on a kill by Levinska. That was the first of four straight points by ASU with a service ace by Jaden Ravnsborg giving the Sun Devils a 22-18 advantage.
ASU, the No. 5 seed, secured the match moments later on a kill by Claire Jeter.
Georgia (19-12), which tied for fourth place in the SEC, was led by senior middle blocker Sophie Fischer with nine kills.
Arizona State had 26 wins in the regular season, which is the third-highest total in program history. Friday's win marked the 27th of the season, tying the second-best win total. This is the 11th 20-win season in ASU history, first since 2014. The 14-0 start to the season was the third-best start to a season in program history.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State volleyball beats Georgia 3-0 in first-round NCAA match
