ASU Volleyball: Devils struggle in close sets in loss to Utah

The Arizona State Sun Devil volleyball team came into Wells Fargo Arena with a chance to get back above the .500 mark. But after a couple of close sets and one poorly played set, the Utes swept the Devils. The Sun Devils fell below the .500 mark for the first time since September 23, dropping to 4-5 in Pac-12 play.

With four wins in nine Pac-12 matches, the Devils have still seen a vast improvement over last season’s winless Pac-12 squad. The team has seen improvement in many areas from last season, in spite of losing a duo of talented seniors in Halle Harker and Oluoma Okaro. Middle blockers Carmen Unzue and Megan Beedie have locked down the center, and ASU’s young core of hitters have more experience than they did last season.

A big reason the team couldn’t get into the win column last season was their inability to finish out close sets. The Sun Devils were 7-19 in sets decided by five points or less during last season’s conference play. It had been a completely different story this year for ASU, as the team was 11-5 in similar sets coming into Friday night’s match.

Although the team has had success so far this year in close sets, Friday night proved a regression for the Sun Devils, as they dropped the first two sets to the Utes by a combined four points. 

“We are still growing. We are still young,” head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “We got a taste of success which is awesome. We can get back there. It’s just a couple plays here and there.”

In spite of ASU’s regression on Friday, one new Sun Devil this year seems to flourish in the clutch. Alyse Ford, a senior who transferred from USC this season, has been the go-to hitter for Arizona State when the sets are coming to a close. On Friday, Ford tallied five of ASU’s eight kills after at least one team hit the 20-point mark.

“That comes with experience, it comes with leadership,” Tomasevic said. “Alyse didn’t tip unless she really had too. Alyse was going up and banging the ball.”

Claire Kovensky also had one of her best matches of the season. She was second on the team in kills with 10. She also led the team in hitting percentage at a .364 mark. Although she played well in the match, she did struggle when it came to crunch time.

“Claire was hitting unbelievable numbers tonight,” Tomasevic said. “But when she had to score for us at the end of that game two and we gave her the ball, she tipped. And it’s like ‘why did you tip that ball.’ They’re scared to swing at that ball.”

The team will look to bounce back Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. against the Colorado Buffaloes in Tempe. The match will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.

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