(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)
On Thursday evening, Arizona State women’s volleyball faced off with No. 8 Stanford, hoping to finally snap a five-game losing streak.
Like the Pacific coast they traveled to, the Sun Devils’ momentum once again came in waves, and crashed quickly. With the inconsistent play, the Cardinal – who has not lost a match since Sept. 30 –made quick work of the Sun Devils, winning in four sets (22-25, 11-25, 25-22, 14-25).
ASU could not slow down Stanford’s attack, allowing Cardinal pin hitters to have a field day against its defense. Senior opposite hitter Kendall Kipp recorded a game-high 21 kills on a .314 hitting percentage, and freshman outside hitter Elia Rubin tacked on 18 kills to support her AVCA All-American teammate.
ASU’s defense struggled mightily in the second set as sophomore Geli Cyr, who usually plays outside hitter for the Sun Devils, had to momentarily step in as libero due to a shoulder injury to senior Annika Larson-Nummer. Larson was later able to return, but only after Stanford had already capitalized on Cyr’s inexperience at the position.
It didn’t help that ASU’s lackluster defense was matched by its offense. Senior outside hitter Iman Isanovic – the team leader in kills this season – finished the match with 12 kills on a season-low .133 hitting percentage.
After going point-for-point with Stanford in the first set, the Sun Devils managed to only record six kills in the second while the Cardinal exploded for 17 kills on a .424 clip. In both the second and fourth set, ASU hit at a dismal .029 and .079 hitting percentage.
Despite the Sun Devils’ 3-1 loss to the Cardinal on Oct. 16, junior outside hitter Roberta Rabelo shined in the defeat with a season-high 12 kills on a .345 hitting percentage, which led all pin hitters in the match.
This time around, head coach Sanja Tomasevic didn’t play Rabelo until the start of the third set, where ASU almost immediately saw a change. Tied halfway through the third, Rabelo came in hot with three straight kills to give the Sun Devils the lead, which they never relinquished to eventually take their only set of the match.
ASU once again saw itself unable to consistently carry the same energy for a full match, a point Tomasevic has echoed throughout the disappointing season. The final plays of the match saw the Sun Devils’ spirit stomped out of them, with Kipp finishing off her dominant night with two straight kills to drop ASU to its sixth straight loss.
