When Arizona State departed for its two-match road trip, they looked poised to make a statement. They had just beaten No. 14 UCLA (15-2, 8-2) in a thrilling reverse sweep and were 9-10, 2-6 on the year. But they had a major test quickly approaching – the 18th-ranked Utah Utes (13-6, 6-4). The Sun Devils had played a lot of ranked opponents with varying results. They either played great or got blown out, with no in between. But for the first time this season, Arizona State had dominated its wins. The Sun Devils managed to upset Utah and beat Colorado, both in four sets. The squad returns to Tempe riding a three-match winning streak and a major boost in confidence.
“I love seeing the growth and fire our team brings. Everyone is ready to go at all times, even the bench players that came on the court are all contributing when their number is called,” Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic explained to Sun Devil Athletics. “We will keep working hard and getting better, but for now we will enjoy these two big-time wins against two good teams on the road.”
Iman Isanovic was spectacular on the road, tallying 42 kills and 20 digs. This impressive showing was enough to earn Isanovic Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and the Sports Imports/AVCA Division l Player of the Week award.
Adding to the confidence boost, the Devils also moved up to eighth in Pac-12 rankings and could pass Arizona this weekend. The recent success adds to the team’s expectations, as they have received 14 points in the AVCA Top 25 Poll. But the Devils are still climbing uphill. They will return to Tempe to face California and the offensive juggernaut, No. 15 Stanford.
California (7-14, 0-10 Pac-12)
California has fallen to 0-10 in conference play and enters Tempe on an 11-match losing streak. The Bears enter Friday as the worst team in the Pac-12, holding the only winless record. California is led by head coach Sam Crosson, who is in his third season as the Bears’ head coach.
Crosson had a strong start at Cal, leading the Golden Bears to a 20-10, 10-10 record in 2019-20, but it has been all downhill since. Through three seasons, Crosson has a combined record of 28-45, going 11-41 in conference play.
Arizona State and California met just over three weeks ago in Berkeley. The Devils came out victorious in four sets and were led by Isanovic and Marta Levinska, who combined for 27 kills. Arizona State was also able to dominate the match by going on multiple scoring runs, the biggest being a 6-0 run.
Although the Bears haven’t had the season they’d hoped for, they still have a strong offensive player in Katie Smoot. The senior outside hitter leads her team in kills with 194 and can get hot during any given match. In the last match between these teams, the Devils did a great job of containing the 6-foot-2 outside hitter. She was limited to 10 kills and had a hitting percentage of .133. Although Smoot was a nonfactor in the previous meeting, Tomasevic and her team should be ready to combat her.
No. 15 Stanford (12-6, 7-3)
The Cardinal will come to Tempe looking to bounce back after being swept in their previous match against No. 10 Washington. Stanford has seen 11 ranked teams and is 5-6 against those teams. Even with this record against ranked teams, Stanford remains a top 15 team because of their offense. The Cardinal leads the Pac-12 in kills per set with 14.10 and has a hitting percentage of .282, tied for best in the conference with the Huskies.
Stanford’s offense is led by freshman setter Kami Miner. In Miner’s last performance against Arizona State, she had 55 assists and nine digs. Miner uses her passing ability often to set up redshirt sophomore Caitie Baird. Baird has 285 kills on the season, which leads the Cardinal and is fourth-best in the Pac-12. In 16 of her 18 matches Baird has tallied double-digit kills, registering six double-doubles this season. When she faced the Devils earlier this month, she had 22 kills on .419 hitting.
The secret weapon the Devils have going into both matches is Geli Cyr. The last time these two teams met up was before Cyr’s breakout match against No. 11 Washington. In the last ASU-Stanford match, Isanovic and Levinska led the way with 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Meanwhile, Cyr was just getting back into the swing of things and didn’t have a single kill. In the Devils’ last three matches, Cyr has joined Isanovic and Levinska in obtaining double-digit kills. If the Devils can get all three of them involved early, then their season could be going down a different path.
Arizona State will open the weekend against California Friday with first serve at 7 p.m. Sunday the Devils will take on the Cardinal at 1 p.m.
