ASU Volleyball: Pac-12 gauntlet continues with No. 13 UCLA

(Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

Coming off a four-match losing streak to start Pac-12 play, Arizona State will continue the gauntlet of facing ranked teams with Friday night’s match against No. 13 UCLA.

In the Sun Devils’ most recent match, they lost to Cal 3-0 in a match where the team struggled most of the night to get any momentum going. Poor play on both sides of the net plagued the team for much of the match.

Some bright spots for the Devils included Senior Oluoma Okaro, who recorded her sixth double-double on the year with 16 kills and 12 digs. Ivana Jeremic and Griere Hughes also came up big for Arizona State with five kills apiece with Jeremic adding eight digs along with a team-high three blocks.

With a week in between matches, the Devils were able to get much-needed practice time in the gym where the team focused on doing their best individually to be able to compete their best as a team.

“Something that we’ve been working on all week is just talking about the process and making sure individually everybody does what they’re supposed to do and then the result will come around,” ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic said.

The week off also gave the Sun Devils to test a unique approach to prepare for a UCLA program that carries one of the most dangerous offensive attacks in the nation. Arizona State was able to bring in players from the men’s volleyball club team to simulate playing against the Bruins.

“The coaches decided to bring in some boys from the men’s club volleyball team to simulate UCLA’s offense so we can see how to play against them,” Okaro said. “If we can play against these guys then it will be a lot easier when we come to play against UCLA.”

During the week off, Arizona State set out to find a more aggressive approach on the offensive side of the net where the Devils have been slightly timid to start the season as they have averaged 0.8 aces per set compared to UCLA’s mark of 1.0.

“We need to be more aggressive serving,” Tomasevic said. “We’re aggressive serving in practice, for some reason we don’t bring it into the games.”

The match against UCLA will be the beginning of a four-match home stand for the Devils in which they will face four Top 25 ranked volleyball teams in No. 13 UCLA, No. 15 USC, No. 25 Colorado, and No.17 Utah. The home stand comes at a time where the Sun Devils have only won two out of their last 14 sets since Pac-12 play began.

The key during this stretch will be for Arizona State to focus on their side of the net and controlling what they can control while they face some the of best teams in the entire nation. The stretch will test the team both mentally and physically and will mostly likely determine what direction the rest of the season goes.

“This week has been completely about focusing on our side of the net.” senior libero Halle Harker said.

Arizona State will have their hands full as they face a very tough UCLA team that is led by senior Reily Buechler, and the freshman duo of Mac May and Jenny Mosser. The team poses a very balanced offensive and defensive attacks that make the team very difficult to beat.

“They dig, they’re a smart offensive team, they’re one of those teams that gives you the ball and challenge you to make a mistake,” Tomasevic said. “Patience against UCLA is going to be key.”

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