(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
The Sand Devils completed their weekend as they hosted the ASU Invitational at PERA Club in Tempe Saturday afternoon. Arizona State was unable to secure a victory at home, however, where they faced three top-10 nationally ranked teams.
No. 2 USC, No. 5 Pepperdine and No. 6 Hawai’i traveled into Sand Devil Stadium and swept the Tempe sand.
Saturday displayed improvement from the ASU squad as they kept its matchup against Pepperdine a tight one. The Devils ultimately fell 3-2.
ASU may have received a reality check this weekend facing high-level competition. Though this is the best start in program history, there are constant improvements that need to be made.
“We see where we want to be with these teams,” head coach Brad Keenan said. “At points, we’re not that far away…I think this showed the girls that we are a lot closer than what they thought we were.”
ASU could not get revenge against Hawai’i as its lone point came from Samantha Plaster and Kate Baldwin, who won two matches on Saturday.
“I think we competed well and were neck-and-neck against the best teams in the Pac-12, NCAA, all of it,” sophomore Katelyn Carballo said. “If we just put in that extra effort, I feel like we can definitely take them.”
The Devils had to compete this weekend without one of their top players, Oluoma Okaro. The senior has been a force for ASU and could have provided a spark for the significant matchups.
“We had one of our best players gone this weekend, so missing her in the top spot was big. That could have helped us maybe pull one out, I’m not sure,” Keenan said.
The adjustments made to constitute the loss of Okaro were challenging.
“That was hard,” Keenan said. “We took a girl who is probably a four or five’s player and had to just throw her up there. I think she did a good job but sometimes when both the other players are over six-foot and you’re five-six, it’s kind of rough.”
Though ASU (10-8, 1-4 Pac-12) could not add to its win column, the team will continue to build off of what has been working for them this season.
“I think the biggest thing is confidence,” Carballo said. “Having confidence is one of the most important things because without it, you’re not gonna do as well. With confidence, you’re going at it 24/7…giving that extra effort in practice and sticking to the details of everything.”
It’s a quick pitstop for the Devils as they will head back out onto the road. Their next matchups will be in Georgia as they will compete in the Diggin’ Duals Tournament.
“Maybe I should have saved such a crazy weekend with three top-10 teams for a different one, but it was good,” Keenan said. “We’ve been on the road for four straight weeks, so it was nice to be home and have the fans out here. It was great.”
Match One Results: No. 5 Pepperdine 3, ASU 2
Match Two Results: No. 6 Hawai’i 4, ASU 1
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