(Photo: ASU Athletics)
It’s been an up-and-down season to say the least for the Sun Devils, who currently sit at No. 22 in the country. We pooled our three volleyball experts together here at WCSN and asked them all the questions that matter as ASU takes on its final stretch of the season, with games against UCLA (Weds.) and UA (Fri.) to finish off the Pac-12 slate. Let’s get into it, with Zac Pacleb, Troy Lynch, and Austen Browne providing answers.
-Volleyball co-editor Trey Lanthier
Question: We’ve talked a lot about ASU’s “uneven” play. Are they actually inconsistent, or is it just the Pac-12 being so deep?
Zac Pacleb: ASU splitting nearly every weekend in conference play had little to do with them. When the potential for 10 of 12 teams to make it to the NCAA Tournament, that only preaches to the depth of the conference. Nearly every match became a grueling battle, and ASU did what they could to survive each battle, most of which went the full five sets. With teams coming in with a bevy of talent and experience, even the slightest of miscues are exposed. Point being, ASU is in no way a team that lacks ability or experience, but against teams with even more of that such as No. 1 Stanford and No. 5 Washington, keeping things in perspective is important.
Troy Lynch: Being inconsistent is common for teams, especially in the Pac-12. For ASU, they are not actually inconsistent, it’s the depth of the conference they’re in that makes their record what it is. Even teams in the Pac-12 who spent much of the season unranked, such as Utah and Colorado, have beaten some of the top-ranked teams in the country. The reason that ASU normally goes 1-1 every weekend is because they do not get a game off. Every match that the Sun Devils play in is tough and they have to play at their best to scrap out a win. So is their 8-10 conference record accurate in depicting their quality as a team? It should be better. With the amount of heavy hitters and big blockers that the Sun Devils have, they should have more wins than losses.
Austen Browne: Though it is easy to just use a scapegoat as a means to diagnose the reason this Arizona State volleyball team has been inconsistent as of late, you cannot excuse the fact that the Sun Devils tend to play down to their competition. Sure, the Pac-12 is the deepest conference in the nation sporting an impressive eight teams in the AVCA Coaches’ Poll up to this point, but the ASU’s struggles against beatable teams have been the story all season long. Take the road slate of Oregon and Oregon State earlier in the year, for example. Against a very dangerous No. 11 Ducks squad, the Sun Devils looked unstoppable, tallying 21 blocks to Oregon’s nine, and junior outside hitter Macey Gardner got hot with 24 kills en route to a five-set victory. The next match versus the unranked Beavers was a different story entirely, as ASU accounted for only seven blocks and could not get it going offensively with a team average of .185 hitting percentage in a three set loss. This is a trend that has become the reality for the Sun Devils as a dominant win has normally been followed by a lowly loss. ASU has not swept a weekend in Pac-12 play at any point this season. If the Sun Devils ever want to take that next step as a team, they need to start addressing the inconsistency issues, and not worry about the depth of the conference.
Q: Macey is going to be Macey. Who is that other player that has to step up for ASU to extend their season?
ZP: Throughout the season, WCSN has shed light on sophomore BreElle Bailey’s struggles, the emergence of junior middle blocker Mercedes Binns and the affect junior middle blocker Whitney Follette’s injury had on the team. However, lost in the fray has been sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey. After a rocky freshman season, the sophomore has increased her offensive production in nearly every category. Compared to last season, she is averaging .32 more kills per set and as well as taken on more defensive responsibility. That being said, uneven passing consistency occasionally rears its head. Her being the OH2, she gets the second-most swings on the team and does well to not give away points. However, head coach Jason Watson has commented that he wants her to score more points with her swings. If and when she does so, ASU’s offense is that much more open across the net.
TL: Macey is the go-to player for the Sun Devils and always will be. But it is never good for a team to be one-sided, especially in volleyball. The other player that needs to step up is BreElle Bailey. Bailey hit her slump at the beginning of conference play and her team needed her more because their all-star middle blocker Whitney Follette was injured. Bailey gets a lot of attempts, but doesn’t produce when it comes to kills. She has the ability to come up big with a block or a kill when her team needs her, because she did it in the beginning of the season. But since then, she has not been the same. If Bailey turns around her game, the Sun Devils will benefit greatly from it.
AB: To make it to the tournament and beyond, ASU has to have other players take a turn in the spotlight, most notably sophomore outside hitter BreElle Bailey. With 231 kills and second on the team in blocks on the year so far, Bailey is an integral part of the Sun Devil offense and defense, which makes her play that much more important when deciding a tight game. Unfortunately so far this season, Bailey has fluctuated just as much as ASU, struggling to find a rhythm offensively in some matches, which has led to tallies in the loss column. Bailey is needed to step up in crunch time in this last stretch of the season if the Sun Devils want to make any noise in the tournament.
Q: Ultimately, where does this team finish? Is the season a success, a disappointment, or something in between?
ZP: Without a doubt, 2014 has been a successful season. There was no sign of the team that lost all but one match in October of 2013, but instead, there was a mentally focused, tougher team on the court. Their ability in the intangible side of volleyball seemed to have grown immensely, and with virtually every starter returning, 2015 will have the heaviest expectations any team Watson has fielded in Tempe. Regardless if they finish at or below .500 in conference play, the Sun Devils remained in the top-25 for nearly the entire season, and from where the program was three season ago, not enough can be said about the growth of Sun Devil volleyball. All things considered, advancing past the first round of the NCAA Tournament would make 2014 an undeniably successful season, but the volleyball pot is brewing at ASU. The recruiting classes being brought in are talented as ever, and the national respect of the program made a jump this seaosn. All in all: success.
TL: It was not a great season for the Sun Devils, but it also wasn’t a bad season by any means. The Sun Devils beat some of the top 10 teams in the nation and almost beat No. 1 Stanford. Even though they don’t dominate teams and have more losses than they do wins in conference play, they should take this season as a success. This is a young team. There’s one senior that will be graduating this year (Shannon McCready) and she is subbed in as a defensive specialist. Freshman libero Halle Harker continues to improve and make history as she has already broken the record for most digs in a match as an ASU freshman. Most of the other starters are juniors and have to be their own leaders with only one senior to look up to. Ultimately, they should take this season as a learning experience and come back next season with a vengeance as they will be a powerhouse next year.
AB: Though the Sun Devils have struggled at times during this season, the youth of this lineup, combined with how far they have come from just a season prior, is a recipe for a pretty successful season. Just a year ago, ASU was lost in the month of October, only acquiring one win in that entire month, never rebounding and fully recovering from each and every loss. The difference in 2014 is that they seem to begin each game with a clean slate, whether the previous match was a win or a loss. Right when they lose to a team they should have beaten soundly, they don’t let the loss weigh down on them mentally and they come back with a vengeance, only being swept in a weekend once this year in Pac-12 play. They have also never backed down from the best of the best in the nation, taking almighty No. 1 Stanford to five sets. This doesn’t even mention all of the juniors and sophomores that are starting on this squad. ASU is prepared to learn from its mistakes this year and step up for an even more successful season next year.
