(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-10 overall, 0-8 in Pac-12 play) faced the No. 13 Utah Utes (16-3 overall, 7-1 in Pac-12 play) and fell in four sets, with the Devils extending their losing streak to eight straight matches.
The first set was tightly contested in the later portion as the Sun Devils closed the gap on multiple three-point leads that the Utes maintained early. ASU evened the score at 17 before taking the lead at 19-18. Two kills from junior middle blocker Berkeley Oblad and senior outside hitter Adora Anae saw Utah regain the lead at 21-20. However, the Sun Devils were not done yet as an error by Utah’s freshman setter Camryn Machado and a kill from ASU’s freshman outside hitter Griere Hughes saw the contest tied up at 23. The Devils struck 25 first on a kill from middle blocker Megan Beedie taking the lead at 25-24. One possession later, the Devils won the set on a kill from Hughes.
There were positive signs in the first set for the Devils. Hughes racked up a team-leading eight kills, followed by sophomore outside hitter Ivana Jeremic with four. After an 18-kill outing against Colorado, ASU’s senior middle blocker Oluoma Okaro was off to a slow start with zero kills after one. Utah’s offense was sluggish as they accumulated four service errors. Defensively, Utah saw production on the blocking front, securing five total blocks compared to ASU’s two.
“We always play good against ranked teams,”ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “I want to see the fire that we brought today to every match going forward.”
The second set was a pivotal one for the Devils, as they have had a history this season of starting matches hot and finishing slow. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, but the Utes answered right back and took a lead of their own. Okaro got her first kill to shrink the deficit to 15-14, but hit no more throughout the set. The Utes jumped out to a six-point lead late at 23-17 thanks to the 14 attack errors the Devils had compared to their seven. The set ended on a double block by Utah’s freshman outside hitter Kenzie Koerber and senior middle blocker Tawnee Luafalemana, taking the set 25-17 and evening the match.
The latter portion of the set was something the Devils would quickly hope to forget, as Utah rattled off eight straight points. Hughes was a lone bright spot on the attack as she had a match leading 11 kills after the second set.
“We’re trying to light the fire somehow,” ASU setter Nicole Peterson said. “We have the skill, and we have the coaches and the game plan, so we have to find it somewhere.”
The third set stayed close throughout, with the Devils breaking the 19-19 tie on an attack error from Utah’s junior outside hitter Lauga Gauta as well as a kill from Okaro to pull out in front 21-19. Utah went on a run of their own. Oblad scored a kill to extend to a 24-23 lead only to be answered by a kill from Jeremic to tie it at 24. The two sides traded points but Utah came out on top 31-29.
“We kind of got mindless at the end of the set we were leading 20-16 but they ended up taking it,” Hughes said. “It’s something we’re still working on.”
The fourth set remained closely contested through the midway point as three unanswered Sun Devil attacks saw them take the lead 15-14. A kill from ASU’s junior opposite hitter Peyton Grahovac and two attack errors from Adora later, and the Devils found themselves with a four-point lead at 20-16. Again, the Utes came back and the set went to extra points. An attack error from Okaro and a service ace from Utah’s Choy saw the Utes take the set 28-26, and the match three sets to one.
Hughes led the way for the Devils on the offensive end with 18 kills; for the Utes, Trueman tallied a game-high 20. Defensively, the Sun Devils lacked presence in front of the net, making nine blocks compared to Utah’s 18. The Sun Devils did win the battle of the service turnovers however, as Utah racked up 11 service errors compared to ASU’s two.
The main issue for the Devils was there inability to close the sets out once they had match point, and the team knows that’s something they have to fix if they want to break this skid.
“We have them where want them towards the end of the match,” Tomasevic said. “Then we can’t capitalize.”
Arizona State takes on the Oregon State Beavers on Friday, Oct. 20, still in search of their first conference win.
