ASU Volleyball: No. 5 Sun Devils drop first match of the season, swept by No. 6 Washington

(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)

The No. 5 Arizona State Sun Devils suffered their first loss as they were swept by No. 6 ranked Washington Huskies in their first Pac-12 road contest, but the ASU also lost something more than its first match of the season.

ASU senior outside hitter Macey Gardner suffered a left leg injury in the second set of the contest, and she did not return. She will be held out of ASU’s next match against Washington State on Sunday as a precaution, and team doctors will look at her leg when the team returns to Tempe on Monday, according to ASU head coach Jason Watson.

It was a quick start for the Huskies as they jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead. The team hit very efficiently hitting .700 early on.

Watson was forced to call his second timeout of the set as the Huskies rattled off a 6-1 run after his first timeout.

Through that point ASU had already recorded seven hitting errors to Washington’s zero and ultimately ASU couldn’t seem to get out of its own way. 10 attacking errors lead to a negative hit percentage for the set. Washington coasted to a 25-6 victory.

ASU started the second set significantly cleaner. ASU was able to get back into hitting in the positives as the team lead 16-12 midway through the set and forcing a timeout by Washington head coach Keegan Cook

The Sun Devils clung to a slim lead throughout the set but lost it late. Ultimately, ASU tied up the set at 24 on a service ace from senior setter Bianca Arellano. However, the Devils didn’t have enough as Washington senior middle blocker Lianna Symbeldon closed out the second set with back-to-back kills giving the Huskies a 28-26 victory.

The third set saw Washington quickly leading once again. Watson called an early timeout as the Huskies lead 7-4. As the set progressed ASU never seemed able to close the gap. As was the theme in the first two sets, errors continued to plague the Sun Devils. The team would finish with nearly as many errors as kills (28 combined errors, 32 kills) and would lose the third set and the match by a score of 25-16.

Washington played incredibly well on both sides of the ball all game. The Huskies recorded 12 blocks while also having 51 digs. The defensive presence made it incredibly hard for ASU to find any sort of rhythm. Offensively, the Huskies only had 14 total errors and hit over .300 as a team.

The Sun Devils will look to bounce back on Sunday as they travel to Pullman to take on Washington State at 1 p.m. The match can be seen on the Pac -12 Network.

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