Beavers extend Sun Devils’ volleyball losing streak to six

By Scott Mammoser

TEMPE, Ariz. – Exactly one month after sweeping the Beavers in Corvallis, the Arizona State women’s volleyball team fell at home to Oregon State, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon.

ASU Falls to Oregon State, 3-1 at home

Someone’s losing streak needed to end, and it was Oregon State’s 11-match skid, dating back to a win on Sept. 18 against Seattle University. The Sun Devils have now lost six consecutively in the aftermath of sweeping then- No. 15 Washington, and are 13-11 and 4-8 in the Pac-12 Conference. OSU picked up its first Pac-12 win this season (1-13) and is 11-13 overall.

The Sun Devils breezed through the opening game, 25-18, before the Beavers won both the second- and third sets by four points, 25-21. In the fourth, a late five-point lead was reduced to one on a Maddy Gravley service ace. Five-straight points put OSU in the driver’s seat, and Haylie Bennett killed the winner at 25-22 for the Beavers’ first win in more than a month.

“We had chances to close it, and they wanted it more than we did,” ASU coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “We came on strong. I told them between the first and second sets, we did the same thing against Colorado (lost 3-1 last week), and they’re not going to back off. In the first set, we were getting blocked, but recovered a lot of balls. In the second set, that stopped.”

Carmen Unzue, the senior middle blocker from Madrid, led the Sun Devils with 12 kills.

“We knew what we had to do, but for some reason we hesitate,” Unzue said. “We want to see the future, and we don’t focus on the present, we want to see us winning, but we just missed our point. I was confident throughout the whole match. I was open to changes and refocusing, and I think that is what is lacking on our team. If we try something that doesn’t work, we need to calm down and try something else. There is no need to rush.”

Amy Underdown led all players with 17 kills for the Beavers, while Maddie Goings collected 10.

ASU will be at the now- No. 21 Huskies at 7 p.m. on Friday, the beginning of a four-match road swing, and returns home on November 16 against No. 20 UCLA. OSU will host UCLA on Friday night. Nationally, BYU (20-0) is ranked first overall, followed by Stanford, Minnesota, Penn State, and Pittsburgh- also undefeated at 22-0 from the ACC.

Coach Tomasevic also elaborated on the larger perspective of things with her players and losing after the match.

“We’re not just coaches, we teach them life lessons,” she said. “If you fail your project, as a person in the work force once or twice, you might have a conversation with your supervisor, but the fourth or fifth time, you’re not having any conversations. You’re gone, and there is someone else coming in.”

Devils Fall to the Cardinal in Pac-12 Matchup 20-13

Mike Stockman

TEMPE, AZ - The Arizona State University Sun Devils hosted the Stanford Cardinal on a Thursday night, October 18, 2018 Pac-12 match-up at Sun Devil Stadium.

In the first quarter, the Devils scored first on a 30 yard field goal.  Half way through the second quarter, the Devils defense held the Cardinal offense to a total of 64 yards and forced 4 punts while producing 138 yards offense and punting only twice.

With a couple of questionable pass interference calls, the Cardinal drove to the 3 yard line but were forced to attempt a 21 yard field goal which was successful, tying the game 3-3 with 3:43 left in the half.

With 2:05 left in the half, the Devils were driving into field goal range but were shut down when an attempted trick play ended in an interception.

After the interception, the Cardinal drove down to the 13 yard line with :02 left and kicked a field goal, putting the Cardinal up 6-3 at the half.

After receiving the second half kick-off, the Devils drove down the field, but were forced to kick a 24 yard field goal to tie the game up 6-6.

The Cardinal answer by scoring a touchdown on a 28 yard pass with 7:55 left in the third quarter, giving them the lead 13-6.

The Cardinal adds another touchdown in the third quarter on a one yard touchdown dive, extending the lead to 20-6.

In the fourth quarter, the Devils add another touchdown making the final score 20-13.

The Cardinal (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) host Washington on October 27.

The Devils (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) travel to Los Angeles to take on USC October 27.

Sun Devils score three times in nine minutes to upset Washington State

By Scott Mammoser

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State women’s soccer team scored three goals between the 72^nd and 81^st minutes to come back and defeat No. 12 Washington State, 3-1, at home on Friday.

ASU Women's Soccer Upsets #12 Cougars 3-1

It was the first win for the Sun Devils since Sept. 22 at California, as they improved to 7-5-1 and 2-3-1 in the Pac-12 Conference. The Cougars, who won the season’s first 10 games- including one at UCLA, have now lost four consecutively and are 10-4 (3-4 in the conference).

“We needed to get something away from this weekend for sure,” ASU coach Graham Winkworth said. “I thought we defended, particularly in our second half, we were excellent. You can see our strikers chasing the ball down, and you can see the organization from our back line in a different formation. We brought a different physicality to the game.”

WSU’s Molly Myers sent her third goal of the season past Sun Devil goalkeeper Nikki Panas with 14 seconds until halftime. Then, freshman Marleen Schimmer equalized on a free kick to begin the scoring flurry in the 72^nd minute.

Jemma Purfield found Dutch midfielder Eva Van Deursen less than five minutes later for the go-ahead goal, her second of the season.

“We had great camaraderie, front to back,” Purfield said. “Everyone is helping us to get these results to beat these ranked teams. Everything clicked better today.”

Natalie Stephens, the senior from Anthem Boulder Creek High School, capitalized on a deflection past Emma Dahline for her first goal of the season, in the 81^st minute.

“Over the last four years,” Stephens said, “I think my defensive game has strengthened, most of all, this season, having these freshmen come in who are very technical, I think my technical game has increased, as well, and my finishing, as well, so being out there, I didn’t have a ton of minutes, but being out there and making something of that time has definitely improved.”

The Sun Devils will host Washington at 1 p.m. on Sunday, while the Cougars will be at the Arizona Wildcats one hour prior to that.

Cougars sweep Sun Devils in women’s volleyball

By Scott Mammoser

TEMPE, Ariz. – Coming off a three-match winning streak that culminated with an impressive sweep at No. 12 Oregon, the Arizona State volleyball team struggled in its home conference opener, falling to No. 22 Washington State in three sets, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-17.

Photo by Scott Mammoser

ASU (12-5, 3-2 in the Pac-12 Conference) was in the also receiving votes category of the national poll this week after the win at Oregon, its first over a ranked team in two years and first over the consistent Ducks since 2014.

“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” ASU coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “I’m disappointed how we came out. They were hitting 33 percent in transition, which is a really high number, and we were hitting 2 percent. That’s a big difference.”

The Sun Devils responded to the opening set loss with a 7-0 start to the second set, only to allow the Cougars (12-3, 3-2) to capitalize on seven of the next eight points. ASU was ahead 16-11, before WSU returned on a 6-0 run and won 25-21. There was little room for regrouping in the third set, with WSU cruising to a 17-11 edge and 25-17 victory.

 “I was proud of how they responded,” Tomasevic said of the week in practice. “I was worried after beating Oregon about keeping them on the ground, but they actually didn’t talk much about that. They were dialed in, getting better at things they needed to get better. 

Whenever we play at home, we feel like we have to do something extra, and we just have to play the game we play on the road.”

Megan Beedie led the Sun Devils with nine kills, while Alyse Ford collected eight. Nicole Peterson had 15 assists for ASU, plus Courtney Leffel recorded 15 digs. On the WSU side, McKenna Woodford and Taylor Mims had 11 and 10 kills, while Ashley Brown tossed 32 assists.

“Last season, not winning a single Pac-12 game,” Ford said, “then coming off a win like Oregon and coming home, we have to show everyone who is a Devil fan, we just need to simplify, play smart and hard volleyball.”

ASU won its first five matches this season and dropped the conference opener at Arizona, 3-0, prior to the wins over California, Oregon State and Oregon. The next game will be at noon on Sunday at home against No. 15 Washington, the school Tomasevic led to a national title as a player in 2005.

“We need to stick to our blocking assignments,” Megan Beedie said. “Everything we scouted out, we need to stick to that.”

Eno Benjamin's Record Breaking Night Sparks Arizona State Win!

Jeff Demers

The Arizona State Sun Devils have taken a Jekyll and Hyde approach to the season so far as they started out playing extremely well against opponents at home, but then looked completely different on the road.  After a big victory against (then 15th ranked) Michigan State at home, the Sun Devils then took to the road, losing back-to-back games to San Diego State, and 10th ranked Washington Huskies.

Even though both losses were only by a touchdown a piece, the offense struggled and at most times seemed to not have any type of identity.  But now they were back home, where they were 2-0.

Enter Eno Benjamin.

Eno Benjamin gets 312 yards rushing, 3 TDs

With the Arizona State Sun Devils returning home on Saturday night, badly in need of a win, the 5'10" 210lb. Sophomore stepped up in a big way!  But at first, as the Arizona State offense took the field on their first possession, it looked like Herm Edwards wanted to come out with a
good mix of run and pass.  And that's what was shown with 6 passes and 9 rushes, including an 11-yard scramble by quarterback Manny Wilkins.  The Sun Devils would stall on the Oregon State 12-yard line after Eno Benjamin would be stopped on a 3rd and 2 run play.  Benjamin would finish with 23 yards rushing on the Sun Devils first drive as they opted for the field goal to go up 3-0.

Oregon State would be forced to punt on their first possession after only gaining a total of 7 yards on 6 plays.  Their leading rusher, Jermar Jefferson would have 10 yards rushing on his first drive as well.  But the Beavers offense was shut down by Arizona State after a sack and 8-yard loss by Malik Lawal.

The Sun Devils would get the ball back on their own 43, where Eno Benjamin would really start to heat up.  He would start the drive with rushes of 5 and 8 yards, but after an incomplete pass by Wilkins, Benjamin broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run, giving the Sun Devils an early 10-0 lead over the Beavers.

On Oregon State's next possession, the Sun Devils defense would once again get to Conor Blount with a combined sack by Jalen Bates and Merlin Robertson.  This would bring up a 2nd and 18.  Jermar Jefferson would get 9 of those yards on the ground for the Beavers, but they would be forced to punt once again.

ASU would receive the ball again after a punt on their own 38.  Eno Benjamin would again do his thing on this drive with runs of 2 (for a first down), 9, 20, and then capped it off by receiving a touchdown pass from Wilkins for an 8-yard score, giving the Sun Devils a 17-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter.

Jermar Jefferson ran for 254 yards, 2 TDs on 31 rushes

Oregon State, badly in need of some offense, any offense, would lean on their starting running back Jermar Jefferson once again.  Jefferson would get the ball seven times on the Beavers drive, with runs of 12, 21, 2, 3, 3, 5, and 3 yards.  This would push the ball down the field enough to allow Oregon State to get on the board with a Jordan Choukair 36-yard field goal, making the score 17-3.

Arizona State would respond with the Eno Benjamin show as the four play, 75-yard scoring drive was highlighted by runs of 21 yards (to start the drive), and 47-yards to score the touchdown.  This gave Arizona State a commanding 24-3 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter.

The Beavers would respond with a 75-yard drive of their own, capped off by Jefferson on the drive's last 3 plays with runs of 15, 6, and 11 yards.  This score cut down ASU's lead to 24-10.

After forcing an ASU punt, the Beavers would again drive down field, using Jefferson to complete two 3rd down plays, and he also would cap the drive off with another nice touchdown run of 27-yards.  This brought Oregon State to within one score of the Sun Devils.  It was also becoming apparent that this game was becoming a track meet between Jefferson and Benjamin.

With only 1:02 remaining in the half, Arizona State would get the ball on their own 25.  And then the Sun Devils took to the air.  Benjamin would have two receptions on the drive of 5 and 14 yards, but it was capped off by a nice pass from Wilkins to Williams for the 19-yard score with just :14 remaining on the clock.  This gave the Sun Devils a 31-17 lead heading into the half.

Coming out of the half, the Sun Devils defense would force a punt by the Beavers, and the ASU offense would drive down field for their first score of the 2nd half, with Wilkins finding N'Keal Harry for the 6-yard touchdown.  This gave ASU a 38-17 lead over the Beavers.

But the Oregon State Beavers would not simply lay down as they scored on their next possession, which included a big run by Jermar Jefferson of 47 yards.  OSU would score on a 6-yard pass by Blount to Noah Togiai, bringing the score to 38-24.

But that would be the last time the Beavers offense would reach the end zone on the night as ASU's defense would lock them down the remaining quarter and a half.

ASU's offense, on the other hand, would poor it on with two more scoring drives.  The first of the three drives would again be highlighted by Benjamin with rushes of 15, 22, 23, and a touchdown run of 10 yards, pushing the ASU lead to 45-24.

Devil's offense scores 52 points in Pac12 victory

And the second drive would be started off with Benjamin runs of 4, 5, and 19 yards.  This gave Eno Benjamin the overall Arizona State single-game rushing record of 312 yards to go along with his 3 rushing touchdowns.  He also added 27 yards receiving and a touchdown reception.  The final score came on a 47-yard pass from Manny Wilkins to N'Keal Harry, bringing the final to 52-24.

Jermar Jefferson would finish the game for the Oregon State Beavers with a nice 254 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 31 rushes.

Up next for the Arizona State Sun Devils another big road test against 21st ranked Colorado. That game is a day game, starting at 1:00 AZ time.