Effort not enough as volleyball falls 3-1 to No. 10 UCLA

November 23, 2007

TEMPE, Ariz. - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/giordano_margie00.html… Giordano</a> blasted 17 kills while <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/trayser_kristin00.html… Trayser</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/smith_staci00.html">St… Smith</a> each collected 12 kills apiece Friday night as the Sun Devils took on the No. 10 UCLA Bruins. Though they stormed back in the third game, the effort wasn't enough as UCLA won 30-25, 30-25, 24-30 and 30-19. The Bruins advance to 20-9 overall and 9-8 in conference play as the Sun Devils fall to 15-15 and 7-10 in the Pac-10.<separator></separator>Game one saw both teams come out firing as the Sun Devils tied the score with the Bruins nine times and grabbed lead once. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/smith_staci00.html">St… Smith</a> had six kills and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/donahue_sydney00.html"… Donahue</a> held down the defense with ten digs in the first game alone as they stayed on UCLA's heels. The Bruins pulled away from the Devils in the end though as Rachell Johnson and Katie Mills both had five kills apiece en route to their 30-25 win. <separator></separator>Game two saw ASU hit .231 as a team to UCLA's .240, which proved to be the edge for the Bruins as even with <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/trayser_kristin00.html… Trayser</a>, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/giordano_margie00.html… Giordano</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/fernandes_danielle00.h… Fernandes</a> all collected four kills, but the Bruins stepped it up as Dicey McGraw hit .308 for five kills as UCLA took game two with the same 30-25 score.<separator></separator>Game three was all ASU though as they came out swinging as they accumulated a .294 team attack percentage while holding the Bruins to a .163 attack percentage. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/giordano_margie00.html… Giordano</a> led the attack with five kills as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/mercer_marina00.html">… Mercer</a> entered the game for the first time to grab 15 assists as the Sun Devils took the game with a decisive 30-24 win.<separator></separator>The Bruins came back solid in game four though as Kaitlin Sather grabbed five kills while Nellie Spicer quarterbacked the Bruin offense with 11 assists. The Sun Devils couldn't answer as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a> led the offense with four kills, but only for a .059 attack percentage as UCLA took the game and the match with a 30-19 win in the final game. <separator></separator>The Sun Devils will wrap their regular season tomorrow with their final match of the season as they set to face the No. 5 USC Women of Troy Saturday night in Tempe at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena at 7 p.m. The seniors of the 2007 season will be honored prior to the start of the match.