(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
Arizona State fell short to No. 10 Washington in four sets (25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 19-25) Sunday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
Though the Huskies got off to a slow start, losing the first set, they quickly recovered and took the next three sets from the Sun Devils.
“When you play a team like that, you need to execute overtime,” associate head coach Carlos Moreno said.
The fourth and final set highlighted the defensive struggle of the Sun Devils as Washington ended the set with 20 kills while Arizona State produced just 10 kills.
The top four hitters of the match all had double digit kills. UW Senior outside, Kara Bajema, led both teams with 22 kills. Outside hitters, Andrea Mitrovic and Ivana Jeremic, led the Sun Devil offense in kills with 15 and 10 respectively.
Huskies sophomore setter Ella May Powell led both teams in assists with 52. Meanwhile, senior setters for the Sun Devils, Callie Jones and Nicole Peterson, had only 35 assists combined. That speaks to ASU’s slow offense in this match.
“Our setters need to do a better job of locating the ball all the way to the pin and giving our outside hitters more range, more opportunities to swing the ball,” Moreno said.
Washington forced the Sun Devils to play heavy defense, and thus, senior libero, Courtney Leffel, led both teams with 16 digs.
Though Leffel produced a solid number of digs, her teammates struggled to play solid defense. Coach Moreno stated that much of the defensive struggle for Arizona State was due to their serve receive.
“We definitely had some overpasses that we weren’t planning on having for sure,” Moreno said. “They were serving us tough.”
The first set was a close competition between the Huskies and the Sun Devils, each taking the lead for a short time. But it was Arizona State who was able to sustain a lead taking the first set.
The Sun Devil offense came from a combination of hitters on the Arizona State lineup. Three was the magic number for Arizona State in the first set. Three outside hitters earned three kills including freshman outside, Iman Isanovic, in addition to junior outsides Claire Kovensky and Mitrovic.
Both Isanovic and Mitrovic hit above a .300 clip in the set, displaying a solid offensive presence. Freshman middle blocker, Kennedi Boyd, as well as Mitrovic each had two blocks for the Sun Devils, serving as crucial momentum boosters for the team.
Washington struck back, taking the second set of the match, despite another strong set from the Devils. ASU recovered well in the second set, showing a sideout percentage of 57.1% while the Huskies had a 51.1% sideout percentage. However, Washington produced 19 kills, four more than Arizona State.
The Huskies carried the momentum from the second set into the latter sets as well, despite ASU finding ways to keep the match interesting.
Nicole Peterson had four straight aces, taking the lead from the Huskies for a short time after being down the entire third set.
Noa Miller entered the setting rotation in the third set despite strong efforts from both Jones and Peterson. But due to the many doubles called on Miller, Jones was quickly put back in the lineup.
Missed serves haunted the Sun Devils as they ended the match with a total of five. The many errors throughout the third set cost Arizona State as they lost by only two points.
Arizona State next will face USC Wednesday, Nov. 27 in Tempe at Desert Financial Arena. Coach Moreno shared that the team will be working on setting and passing as they prepare to face the Trojans and then in-state rival, the University of Arizona, in their final regular season matches of the season.
