No. 15 Arizona State recorded a 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 win over Morehead State on Saturday (Sept. 13) in the final match of the Comfort Inn and Suites Volleyball Invitational at Wetherby Gym.
The Pacific-12 Conference Sun Devils improve to 8-1 on the year, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 0-9. ASU finishes the weekend tournament 2-1, while MSU went winless in three tries.
"Give Arizona State a lot of credit," Head Coach Jaime Gordon said. "They are No. 15 in the nation for a reason. They are long, physical, athletic and well coached. I'm disappointed anytime we lose, but these types of opponents should help us in the long run. We learned a lot in today's match."
The first set featured 11 ties and four lead changes, but the remainder of the match included just three ties and two lead changes. Arizona State recorded a .337 attack percentage for the afternoon, with 44 kills and just 14 errors. Morehead State only hit .110, with 26 winners and 17 miscues.
"We fought hard at the beginning of the match, and put ourselves in a position to possibly steal the first set, but things fell apart after that," Gordon said. "We didn't take advantage of the opportunities Arizona State gave us. That's something we needed to do against a team of their caliber."
Arizona State collected two solo blocks and 14 block assists. Morehead State posted one solo rejection and eight block assists. The Sun Devils also tallied advantages of 42-25 in assists, 8-3 in aces and 33-28 in digs. ASU hit .182 in the opening set, but .381 and .457 in the last two stanzas.
Arizona State sophomore middle blocker BreElle Bailey, who hit .632, notched match highs of 13 kills and six blocks. Junior middle blocker Mercedes Binns added eight smackdowns and five rejections, while junior outside hitter Macey Gardner chipped in with nine winners and match-best six aces.
Junior middle blocker Hannah Sigala paced Morehead State with seven kills, while junior middle blocker Laura McDermott tallied a .364 offensive efficiency. The Eagles finished with a .219 hitting percentage in the final set after an .045 clip in set one and .036 mark in second two.
MSU returns to action on Tuesday when it visits Conference USA opponent Marshall at 11:30 a.m. The Eagles wrap up the week with three matches at Big Ten Conference foe Purdue. MSU will face Notre Dame and St. Louis in addition to the host Boilermakers on Friday and Saturday.
Comfort Inn and Suites All-Tournament Team
Katie George - MVP (Louisville)
Janelle Jenkins (Louisville)
Maya McClendon (Louisville)
Mackenzie Roddy (Northern Illinois)
Alexis Gonzalez (Northern Illinois)
Macey Gardner (Arizona State)
Laura McDermott (Morehead State)
