Nov. 29, 2002
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- Junior outside hitter Kim Mehlhorn led three Sun Devils with double-digits in kills with a season-high 16 kills to lead the Arizona State volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-27, 30-26, 30-26) sweep over the NCAA-bound Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Friday night in the opening match of the UNLV/Hard Rock Thanksgiving Classic at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The win keeps Arizona State in contention for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament that will be announced Sunday night at 7 p.m. (MST) on ESPNEWS. ASU improved to 13-11 with the victory over the Mid-Continent Conference champion Golden Eagles (22-9). ORU has already earned a spot in the Field of 64 by virtue of winning its conference tournament last weekend in Tulsa, Okla.
In addition to Mehlhorn's (Tempe, Ariz.) season-high 16 kills on a scorching .462 attack percentage (16-2-31), the junior who has been sidelined at times this season due to migraine headaches also tallied 10 digs for her fourth double-double (kills/digs) of the year. Sophomore Natalie Harris (Tempe, Ariz.) continued her solid play with her second career double-double (both coming in the last three matches) with 13 kills and 10 digs.
Senior middle blocker Julia Leddy (Mesa, Ariz.) added 10 kills in the victory, while junior setter Cheryl Anglin (Queen Creek, Ariz.) set an ASU three-game best this year with 53 assists. With her fourth 50+ assist match this year and the 25th of her career, the junior setter now has 3,376 in her career to mark the second most in ASU history and the most among active Pac-10 setters. Harris, Mehlhorn and junior Courtney Blocher (Scottsdale, Ariz.) each had 10 digs to anchor the Sun Devil defense.
The Sun Devils complete the regular season tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the championship match against Weber State. The Wildcats were a 3-1 winner against tournament host UNLV in Friday's late match.
--Sun Devil Volleyball--