(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-16 overall, 0-14 in conference play) face off against the No. 15 Oregon Ducks (15-7 overall, 8-6 in conference play) in a redemption match for ASU as they were swept in their first contest against Oregon back on Oct.21, by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-14.
This time around the Devils will look to make a bigger impact, still motivated to attain their first win this conference season. The last time the Ducks and Devils met, it was at Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks home court. This time, the Devils will be hosting.
“Oregon has really great athletes and they play a really fast offense,” acting head coach Carlos Moreno said. “We need to maintain a high level of playing over time, we need to serve tough and get them out of their system.”
ASU will be looking for leadership and offensive production from their star senior middle blocker Oluoma Okaro who leads the team with 400 kills this season. While a shoulder injury has interrupted her flow as of late she is expected to play. On the defensive side, senior libero Halle Harker has been a constant model of consistency for this team tallying 497 digs and moving up to third on the ASU all-time digs leaders list with a career total of 1900 before today’s game.
“I talked to her [Okaro] a little bit and she said she is good to go and that she doesn’t have any pain anymore,” Moreno said. “We just want to be very careful with the shoulder especially right now at the end of the season, we don’t want to force anything.”
With sophomore outside hitter Ivana Jeremic still questionable with the left ankle injury she sustained against the Stanford Cardinal on Oct. 27, freshman outside hitter Griere Hughes has gotten more opportunity and has risen to become the second option for the Devils’ young offense. Given more time to develop in the coming years, Hughes will be a staple, and a player that ASU looks to build around offensively as they transition into becoming a top Pac-12 team once more.
Oregon is coming off an embarrassing three-set sweep to No. 2 Stanford in which they were easily handled by scores of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-14 once more. It was an uncharacteristic showing for the Ducks, and they make their way to Arizona State seeking to resurrect the momentum they had at the beginning of the conference season.
