(Photo: Haley Spracale/WCSN)
The Arizona State volleyball team entered Sunday’s matchup against UCLA on a four-game winning streak. Their last two wins were decisive, as ASU swiftly completed sweeps of both Kansas and Arizona.
Riding the wave of consecutive victories, the success looked primed to continue as the Sun Devils rolled into Pauley Pavilion for their second Pac-12 showdown of the season.
Then, they promptly lost the momentum.
After dismantling their last few opponents, the Sun Devils found themselves struggling to produce offensively and defensively throughout the match. The team committed 16 attacking errors, eight reception errors, and lost all three sets to the Bruins. Claire Kovensky’s two straight kills late in the third set gave ASU their first lead at 17-16, but her late efforts were unable to rally the Sun Devils.
The result of the match is mirrored by each team’s hitting percentage. Arizona State ended with a feeble .082 through the three sets, which was the lowest it has been this season. UCLA finished with .311, the highest percentage the Sun Devils have allowed in 2019.
Overall, ASU did little to slow down the firepower of Bruins outside hitters. Mac May and Savvy Simo, who combined for 27 kills of the team’s 47 kills. Contrarily, the Sun Devils could only muster 24 kills in response to their opponent’s offensive onslaught.
Kovensky, a diamond in the rough, contributed a team-leading eight kills and a respectable .250 percentage.
Sunday’s defeat marks the Sun Devils’ ninth-consecutive loss to UCLA. Arizona State drops to 1-1 in conference play and 9-5 overall. Meanwhile, UCLA remains undefeated in Pac-12 matchups and improved to 7-4 on the season.
ASU will look to get back on track when they return to Tempe to face Colorado (8-4, 0-2 Pac-12) in a home matchup at Wells Fargo Arena on Friday, October 4, at 7:00 p.m MST.
