Lamar University: W 3-0
The Sun Devils swept the Lamar Cardinal in 3 sets (25-19, 25-23, 25-18) to open tournament play on Friday morning. The win improved ASU’s overall record to 8-2.
Senior hitter Olouma Okaro and freshman hitter Griere Hughes lead the Sun Devils’ attack with double-figure kills. Okaro lead the team with 15 kills, while Hughes came in with 13 kills.
Setter Nicole Peterson added to ASU’s efficient offense with 41 assists in the match. Peterson also scored one of the two aces in the match. Ivana Jeremic scored the other.
Carmen Unzue and Nicole Peterson lead the Sun Devils’ defense at the net with a total of five blocks.
While ASU put up great numbers at the net, the Sun Devils’ back row also made a great impact on the game. ASU had a total of 47 digs in the match compared to Lamar’s 31. Halle Harker led both teams with 18 digs in the match. Her digs put her only seven digs short of former Sun Devil Christy Nore’s 1,597 career digs. Nore is currently in third place on the list. Harker is fourth.
Houston Baptist W 3-1
As expected, Houston Baptist gave ASU its biggest challenge of the tournament. The Sun Devils were able to beat Houston Baptist in four sets (25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19).
Despite HBU’s ability to find offensive strength in their serving, collecting seven aces total, ASU came out victorious by having efficient hitting. Outside hitter Ivana Jeremic led the team with of 17 kills and an ace. Olouma Okaro and Griere Hughes followed closely behind with a combined 23 kills. While Peyton Grahovac secured eight kills, she also led the team in blocks. She had a total of four throughout the match.
In addition to a strong attack line, Nicole Peterson played a large role in contributing to ASU’s offense. She put up a personal best of 48 total assists.
Halle Harker stole the show and recorded 23 digs to pass Christy Nore on ASU’s Career Digs list. She now holds the third place spot with 1,613 career digs.
UT Arlington: W 3-0
In their match against the home team, the Sun Devils won three straight sets (25-14, 25-16, 25-21) to complete a sweep at the tournament.
Olouma Okaro notched 17 kills in the match along with 2 blocks. She led the team in kills for two of the teams three tournament matches. Freshman Griere Hughes had 13 kills while also leading the team with 4 blocks. Her impressive efforts did not go unnoticed, both her and Okaro left Arlington with all-tournament honors.
After having 20 digs in the match, Halle Harker increased her career digs total to 1,633. Ivana Jeremic came up second in digs. She had a total of 11. Setter Nicole Peterson put up numbers at the net and in the back row. She notched her first double-double with 38 assists and 10 digs. She completed the tournament with a total of 127 assists.
With the win, the Sun Devils head into conference play with a 10-2 record. They will take on the University of Arizona on Thursday night at 8 p.m.
