ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils swept at Oregon State

For the second straight game, Arizona State (1-7) suffered a gut-wrenching defeat at the hands of Oregon State (4-5) in five sets.

Over the last two games in Corvallis, the Sun Devils had 10 opportunities to close out the Beavers on match point, but on both occasions ASU just couldn’t find the knockout punch.

Oregon State rallied both times, and it ended up with back-to-back heartbreaking defeats for ASU.

In the fifth set of Friday’s game, the Sun Devils had six different opportunities to shut the door, but a few service errors and big plays from the Beavers changed the outcome.

The loss marked the fourth time this year that ASU lost in five sets, as the team is now on a seven-game losing streak after kicking off the year with an upset over No. 10 Washington.

Aside from the ugly end to the game, the sets prior, ASU once again showed the team’s offensive flashes with their young talent.

They won the first set 25-18 and the third set 25-20, and their attack was fueled by a familiar culprit - freshman Marta Levinska - who had 20 kills for the second consecutive game and was a force throughout much of the match.

Freshman setter Ella Snyder also had 43 assists and three aces, while libero Annika Larson had 19 digs.

For the Beavs, they were led by their two freshman stars too, as outside hitter Mychael Vernon and Aliyah McDonald combined for 33 kills and were crucial down the stretch for Oregon State to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat twice in a row.

Looking to mend its wounds quickly, ASU will have a long flight back home before hosting No. 18 UCLA at Desert Financial Arena next weekend.