(Photo: Trey Lanthier/WCSN)
A utility player is a term generally used in the sport of baseball, describing a player who has the ability to play a multitude of positions at the same level.
However, for No. 19 Arizona State and head coach Jason Watson, they have their own version of a utility player: freshman Madison McDaniel.
Despite being listed as a setter on thesundevils.com, the 6-foot McDaniel has seen time at both the left and right pins in ASU’s last three matches racking up a total of 14 kills and five blocks. Although those numbers aren’t necessarily eye-popping, the Texas-native’s ability to come in cold off the bench has proven to be valuable to Watson.
“Honestly, I’m just here to play volleyball,” McDaniel said. “Whatever my coach needs me to do, I’m willing to do.”
Against No. 22 Colorado two weekends ago, the Sun Devils trailed the Buffaloes two sets to none, and sophomore opposite BreElle Bailey was struggling. At that point in the match, Bailey was hitting .125 and had just four kills. McDaniel stepped in during the third set and contributed two blocks immediately. She finished the match with three blocks to go along with three kills in the eventual loss.
When ASU traveled to play No. 1 Stanford last week, ASU once again found themselves down two sets once again, and once again, McDaniel stepped into the lineup, this time for sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey. Through two sets, Willey had tallied just one kill on 20 attempts. In ASU’s comeback push, McDaniel posted three kills and two blocks as the Sun Devils fell to the undefeated Cardinal in five sets.
McDaniel would follow that match by starting against California, playing every set in ASU’s four-set win, and ended with seven kills on 28 swings.
“I just went in with the mindset like, I’ve got to do this for my team,” McDaniel said.
All things considered, for a player that was never recruited as an attacker, stepping into Pac-12 matches cold off the bench is a big request for the freshman. Nonetheless, McDaniel has proven she can provide a spark when her teammates are struggling.
“Credit to her because it’s not easy to (come off the bench),” Watson said. “To do it on the road and then to do it again for Stanford and Cal, so it’s nice. We’re creating some depth in some much different ways than you would traditionally create depth.”
The role isn’t exactly unfamiliar either. During her junior and senior seasons at The Woodlands High School, McDaniel totaled 647 kills en route to being named to lonestarvolleyball.com’s All-Texas Second Team.
“Growing up, in high school, I played (outside hitter), and I’ve always set,” McDaniel said. “And I’ve always set, so I kind of know that I can do whatever my coaches need me to do.”
In the bigger scheme of things, McDaniel’s future likely will not see her as a pin attacker at ASU. She is an effective, physical setter, and in an exhibition match against Mount Royal U (Canada), McDaniel proved that to be true, dishing out 34 assists and posting two solo blocks.
“All I know is that I don’t know anything when it comes to what’s going to happen down the road,” Watson said. “What she is doing is she’s creating lots of opportunities for herself to go do lots of things to help her team, and I think, in talking with Madi, that’s her motivation.”
Even though she has been rather effective in her time on the court, Watson doesn’t believe she is the solidified answer to the inconsistent offensive efforts from Willey and Bailey.
“We need some offensive productivity out of the right that we haven’t gotten,” Watson said following their five set loss to the Buffaloes. “And while Madi came in and did some nice things for us, she didn’t provide the offensive output that we need.”
When they are in rhythm and effective, the Sun Devils are far and away a better team. In matches ASU has lost, Willey and Bailey have combined for 3.35 kills per set at a .070 clip, below their normal combined season average (including matches ASU lost) of 4.29 kills per set and a hitting percentage of .168.
“I think we’ve been trending in this nice defensive place; we needed to be better offensively,” Watson said. “I think we’re starting to come out of that a little bit.”
Although those numbers may not have a stark contrast, the effects on the surrounding players are felt. If Gardner is the only pin hitter getting loose, it hinders the effectiveness of ASU’s middle attack when she is not in the front row.
“As a player, you’re going to have those ups and downs,” Gardner said. “And I definitely experienced that last year towards the beginning of the season, and Bree is kind of going through that right now, and that’s going to happen.”
Willey and Bailey are not subpar players; they have established that they can both be effective and productive players in the brutal Pac-12. However, if Watson and his team want to get over the hump of splitting weekends, the sophomores from Highland, Utah need to find consistency as well, and that is something that Gardner is trying to help the younger attackers get through.
“The most important thing is – hey, you’re going to get out of it,” Watson said. “Just keep swinging; just keep working. Don’t be tentative, just work out of it. You’re going to pull through.”
That being said, McDaniel providing that safety blanket to change things up for the Sun Devils mid-game is something to watch over the course of the final three weeks of the season. Willey and Bailey have proven to be players that are not shaken up by being pulled from matches, and having McDaniel step in so they can recover from a subpar match takes a lot of pressure off of both players.
“We don’t want to push anything on (McDaniel and freshman libero Halle Harker), push these expectations, like hey you need to do this, hey you need to do that,” Gardner said. “They’ve taken everything in stride, and they’re just really improving every week.”
As much of an emotional roller coaster volleyball is at its core, that is true even more so in the Pac-12. The grueling nature of playing the top teams in the country every weekend is something that can tear a team down both mentally and physically, but between the performances of McDaniel and junior Andi Lowrance, the depth on the team is something that will play an important part of this final stretch of the regular season as teams try to bolster their resumes for the NCAA tournament.
“There’s six opportunities left to make a statement for selection,” Watson said. “I never feel like we should ever be comfortable where we’re in, ever.”
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
