ASU Volleyball: Arizona State falls to No. 11 Washington in five sets

The Arizona State Sun Devils (8-9, 1-5 Pac-12) took on No. 11 Washington Huskies (11-3, 4-2 Pac-12) in a Pac-12 conference matchup and squandered another opportunity to pick up a conference victory. Although the Devils were given many chances to close out the match in the fifth set they lost for their second loss of the weekend.

“I thought we played well against a really good team,” head coach Sanja Tomasevic told reporters following the fifth Pac-12 loss of Arizona State’s season. “It was just cool to see how the girls fought and how much more disciplined they were. I loved to see Geli (Cyr) come out and play well today and then super happy to have Marta (Levinska) and Iman (Isanovic) have a good night together, along with Claire (Jeter).”

Tomasevic decided to start fifth-year senior Jamye Cox over junior Annika Larson. The two liberos compete against each other every day at practice, but it was Cox who got her number called on Sunday. In the first start in her career, the veteran Sun Devil had 17 digs.

“You can always be better, so there is a lot of stuff that when I get in the gym, I want to work on,” Cox explained about her performance. “Just getting in the gym, staying dialed in and having our blockers backs better, digging more balls, and covering that deep five zone.”

In the first set, the Devils came out flat and lacked the aggression required to compete against one of the best teams in the country. The Huskies quickly jumped out to an early 5-0 scoring run which gave them a 5-1 lead. It appeared Arizona State would be in a for a long night, but sophomore setter Ella Snyder helped the Devils bounce back. Snyder kicked off a 5-0 scoring run with a service ace and set up her teammates with scoring opportunities. Snyder would finish the match with a career-high 51 assists, and in the process pass the 1,000 career assist mark.

“She’s awesome, I keep saying the same stuff about her, but I really mean it. She’s a workhorse, a student of the game and those are two requirements to be elite at this level,” Tomasevic said. “Ella is milking everything out of it. Ella gives you no chance to not work on her, which is a cool trait to have in her. Especially as our setter. We’ll go as Ella goes.”

Arizona State would go on to win the first set behind Iman Isanovic’s four kills. After taking the opening set advantage and having the momentum on their side, it appeared the Devils were back in business.

In the following sets, Washington showed why they are the 11th-rankedteam in the country. The second set was a dominant performance by Washington junior outside hitter Claire Hoffman. Hoffman would have 10 kills in just the second set and was the principal reason for the Huskies’ dominant performance. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter would finish the match with 25 kills and eight digs.

Both sides traded points and neither team could gain a significant lead in the third set until the Huskies went on a 4-0 scoring run to take a 14-11 lead. With momentum on the Huskies’ side, Tomasevic was forced to call a timeout. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. Washington had become an offensive juggernaut, and it was too much for the Devils to compete with.

With their backs against the wall, Arizona State found the offensive production that helped them win the first set again in the fourth set. Isanovic led the way with eight kills and had help from freshman Geli Cyr, who had four of her career-high 12 kills in the fourth set. Tomasevic was impressed with the 5-foot-10 freshman, who stepped up and made her impact felt throughout the set.

Like the previous two sets, the fifth set was close and competitive. Levinska chipped in with six kills and helped create separation on the scoreboard between the two teams. But it was Huskies’ senior outside hitter Samantha Drechsel and junior middle blocker Marin Grote who would seal the deal for Washington. After Arizona State could not convert on two match points, Washington won the match off two ASU errors, winning the set 17-15 and escaping Tempe with a win.

“They hate losing the fifth set more than all of us do. If you think about winning the next 15 points, that’s a hefty goal,” Tomasevic explained. “Just like thinking about 15 mini games compared to one big game. We had a really good meeting about it on Friday and good things came out of it, which was great to see today.”

Five-set matches have seemed to be the kryptonite for this Sun Devil team. In eight five-set matches, the Devils are a combined 2-6, their only wins coming against Nebraska-Omaha and Utah Valley.

“I mean that’s exciting [to go to five], but we know we are better than that,” Jamye Cox told reporters. “We know we could have won.”

Arizona State will return to action on Oct. 15 against the USC Trojans (7-8, 3-3 Pac-12) at Desert Financial Arena at 7 p.m.