ASU volleyball is back in business

(Photo: Trey Lanthier/WCSN)

The No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devil volleyball team held their annual Maroon and Gold game at Wells Fargo Arena today before their season gets underway on August 29 in Manoa, Hawaii.

ASU held two scrimmages at ASU’s Polytechnic and West campuses last week, but today was the Sun Devils’ first action with a significant crowd.

“It was exciting,” ASU freshman setter Madison McDaniel said. “It was obviously nerve wracking being in front of a lot of people, but it was really fun.”

Junior outside hitter Macey Gardner was glad to finally get back onto the court after deciding to not participate in any organized summer play. During the summer of 2013, Gardner played with the Pac-12 all-stars in China, an opportunity that junior middle blocker Whitney Follette took advantage of this past summer.

“We’re chomping at the bit. We’re ready to play next weekend, and we’re ready to go,” Gardner said.

ASU returns six starters, only losing three-year starting libero Stephanie Preach to graduation, and the familiarity was evident in the team’s chemistry and communication on the court throughout the scrimmage.

“In practice, we don’t have to figure out as many things,” ASU head coach Jason Watson said. “We can just go spend our time getting better at stuff, so that’s been good.”

The libero spot is the biggest question mark coming into the season as Watson needs to replace Preach, who is second on ASU’s all-time career digs list. Looking to fill that void is freshman Halle Harker, redshirt freshman Genevieve Pirotte and sophomore Mia Manzon.

“I like the work that all three of them are doing,” ASU head coach Jason Watson said. “As we get further into this, Genevieve and Mia are progressing really quite nicely, but I am really impressed with the job that Harker is doing. I think, if anything, she’s a little bit ahead of the other two.”

The No. 25 ranking is ASU’s first AVCA preseason ranking since 1996. They were also picked to finished fourth in the Pac-12, behind Stanford, USC and Washington.

ASU will start their non-conference play against San Diego State on August 29 to kick off the season.

Scrimmage notes

-Senior setter Shannan McCready did not participate in the scrimmage. She was held out with an injury. She also did not participate in the scrimmages earlier in the week.

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

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