(Photo: Haley Spracale/WCSN)
After ending the weekend with a three-set loss to Utah, the Sun Devils are struggling to remain a consistent presence in Pac-12 play. Through four conference matches, ASU is 2-2 in Pac-12 with wins over Arizona and Colorado as well as losses to UCLA and then No. 20 Utah.
“I don’t know what’s happened,” head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “We’re not coming to practice using the opportunity to get better. It’s like excuse after excuse.”
Here is a breakdown of all four conference games. What the Sun Devils did right and wrong in their conference matches thus far:
Oct. 6 vs Utah (3-0 Loss, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20)
Players such as junior middle blocker, Megan Beedie, are highly underestimated because she is rarely the focal point of the ASU offense. However, when she is passed to consistently, Beedie can become a major threat.
This was the case in the Utah match, with Beedie contributing seven kills in 16 attacks. If the setters are able to switch up the hitters they choose to set, ASU’s offense will not have to be carried by one or two players. Quality attacks depend in part on a quality set, which have not exactly been easy to come by so far for ASU.
Reflecting their performance in Los Angeles, Arizona State’s setters struggled to find a rhythm as they rotated through all three of their setters in the lineup. Sophomore setter, Noa Miller, saw the court for the first time since the team played UCLA and produced nine assists for the Sun Devils.
Utah played solid volleyball, ending the match with 52 kills and hitting at a steady .328 clip. The Utes were fluid, eloquently moving together both offensively and defensively.
The Sun Devil defense could not keep up with Utah’s fast-paced offense. Further, the Sun Devils had trouble igniting an offensive presence. Although the second and third sets were relatively close in score, ASU could not execute in crunch time, and it was reflective in their stats. Of their 111 attack attempts, the only 33 resulted in kills, good for a paltry .162 clip.
Oct. 4 vs Colorado (3-1 Win, 31-29, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18)
The Sun Devils came out on top in the match against Colorado 3-1, but their victory lacked poise. The match swelled with errors from the Devils, who ended with a total of 31 errors.
Despite the many mistakes, three hitters were able to carry the Sun Devils offense. That being senior outside hitters Ivana Jeremic and Jada Burse who tallied 13 and 12 kills respectively. Freshman outside, Iman Isanovic, also racked up eight kills for the Sun Devils.
However, ASU’s middle blockers were not involved much in the offense, with their three top middles, Megan Beedie, Kennedi Boyd and Avital Jaloba, contributing just 21 combined attacks. Had the middle blockers been more involved, ASU’s offense would have been harder to read. This was evident in the blocking totals, with the Buffaloes racking up a grand total of 16 blocks in the match.
Sept. 29 @ UCLA (3-0 Loss, 25-13, 25-14, 25-20)
In this match, Arizona State faced a top competitor in the Pac-12, UCLA coming of a big win over Arizona The match in Los Angeles was an opportunity for the Sun Devils to continue sending the message that they were ready to compete with teams in the Pac-12.
Instead, the Sun Devils looked like an entirely different team. Arizona State failed to show any sense of competitiveness, scoring only 24 kills at a .082 clip out of 97 attack attempts. This is in stark contrast to UCLA, who produced 42 kills at a steady .311 clip. The offense struggled so much that the Sun Devils used all of their setters in the lineup, hoping to find a steady playmaker.
Sept. 26 vs Arizona (3-0 Win, 25-20, 25-16, 25-19)
Competing against in-state rival Arizona, the Sun Devils dominated in their home-opener. Arizona State ended the match with 45 kills hitting at solid .330 clip. It was in this game that the Sun Devils showed they were capable of playing a higher caliber of volleyball than they have in the last few seasons.
Conclusion
After four conference matches, the Sun Devils have shown a variety of different performances. Big wins over Arizona and Colorado may have showed ASU’s potential, but in order for the Sun Devils to win more matches this season, they must show more consistency.
It is imperative that the Devils have an offensive presence where the setters and hitters are able to work together consistently on the court as well as getting their middles more involved. Tomasevic says she is unhappy with her team’s performance since their home-opener, and she is going to ask her team “to invest themselves one hundred percent.”
