ASU Volleyball: Mercedes Binns and Kylie Pickrell are connecting better than ever

(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)

To compromise for the injuries that have hit No. 21 Arizona State, a plethora of changes were made to the lineup over the course of several matches.

When these decisions were made to change up the lineup, a couple different ideas have to be considered. One of those more important things that is must be taken into consideration is the connection between two players on the court.

The setter-hitter relationships can make or break what happens on the court for teams. For ASU, one of the key setter-hitter connections going forward will have to be the connection between senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns and freshman setter Kylie PIckrell.

In the midst of all of the adjustments that ASU head coach Jason Watson had to make, one that kind of got lost was the relationship between Binns and Pickrell. For the first month of the season, Pickrell and Binns worked together, but then after another month, Binns moved and was paired up with senior setter Bianca Arellano for the majority of her rotations. Now, Binns is back working with Pickrell, with whom she has had statistically more success.

“That change did not happen because of the relationship,” Watson said. “It happened because we tried to avoid having three freshmen on the court at the same time. It turned out that it was better offensively as well.”

“It worked out offensively” is an understatement. In the last match with Binns and Pickrell paired up front, Binns finished out with 12 kills on 22 swings with only three errors for a hitting percentage of .408.

“We had a good day,” Binns said. “Sometimes we have good days, and sometimes we have off days.”

In fact, this statistical evidence of Binns playing better with Pickrell is not just showing for one game. If you look at Binn’s first 10 games of the season she was averaging 6.4 kills per match, and those games she played with Pickrell setting her for two rotations.

Then in Binns’ next 10 games her numbers dropped off and for most of the last month Binns has been playing with Arellano as her main setter. In those 10 games, Binns averaged 2.9 kills per match.

That number is significantly lower than in her first 10 matches, and for an offense to be sustainable, there has to be a couple different options. It is the middle’s job to draw the attention from the opposing middle blocker and leave the hitters at outside hitter and opposite against solo blockers; however, if a middle is not producing as needed, it does not benefit the offense.

Just recently Binns, has moved back to working with Pickrell, and it is proving beneficial both. In her last four matches, Binns is back up to averaging 6.25 kills per set and tallied her season-high of 12 against the Washington State Cougars.

At this point in the season for the Sun Devils it is about finding continuity in a lineup on the court that will make the team as successful as it can be. For the Sun Devils, one of the main things about their offense is that it needs to fall into the right tempo.

“Location and speed,” Binns said. “That’s what we have been working on and it has gotten a lot better.”

So far, the connection between Pickrell and Binns seems to be working. Connections are never perfect though and always require work in practice. For the Sun Devils, that relationship is the first thing that they work on.

“We are working a lot on connection,” Pickrell said. “Especially at the beginning of practice with the middles. Just making it (the sets) as consistent as I can for her.”

Consistency will be crucial as the Sun Devils have to win two more games in order to have a more secure shot at securing a birth in the NCAA tournament.

Up next for the Sun Devils this week is a road trip to take on Utah on this Thursday night, and then to Colorado for a match on Saturday night.

If you have any questions or comments, you can contact Jacob Franklin via twitter @Jacob_Franklin4 or via email at jacobfranklin093@gmail.com.

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