(Photo: Haley M Sparacle/WCSN)
Arizona State’s travel to the Bay Area was met with resistance and two lack-luster efforts against two of the best teams in the Pac-12 conference.
Oct. 11 v. California (0-3, 20-25, 20-25, 19-25)
First up, the Sun Devils took on the No. 16 ranked California Golden Bears Friday night. The match was played on a neutral site as both teams competed at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion.
The Sun Devils struggled out of the gate as California took a convincing advantage, never surrendering the lead in the first set victory, 25-20.
Missteps in the Arizona State strategy hampered the Sun Devils for most of the match, as they never continually served the ball well.
“We knew they executed well in good situations,” head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “Our plan was to serve them tough, but unfortunately, we didn’t serve as hard as we had hoped. We knew Cal was going to be good and they were.”
ASU played more resiliently in the second set leading 18-16 at one point in the match, but late pressure from Cal forced the Sun Devils into vulnerable positions on the court. Outside hitter Jada Burse contributed in a comeback effort for ASU, leading the team with 13 kills and collecting a career-high hitting percentage of .591.
The third set for ASU did not yield a positive result, as the Devils did not sustain a substantial offensive attack. Cal’s pressure created openings in the defensive, exploiting weaknesses in the Sun Devils game plan and an easy three set victory for the Golden Bears. Cal’s Lauren Forte led the Bears with 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .591.
Oct. 13 v. Stanford (0-3, 18-25, 21-25, 22-25)
Sunday afternoon, Arizona State returned to Maples Pavillion to compete against No. 2 Stanford. Similar to their performance Friday night at Maples, the Sun Devils never sustained momentum against the high-flying Cardinal.
Freshman Iman Isaovic collected a career day for ASU, finishing the game as the match leader in kills with 13 and a career-high .462 hitting percentage. While Isanovic played well, the rest of the Devils roster struggled to make plays.
Consistent pushes from the Cardinal, forced Arizona State into a consistent state of catch up. Multiple offensive thrusts from Stanford’s Meghan McClure, Mackenzie Fidelak and Kendall Kipp were too much for ASU’s offense.
With the struggles defensively, ASU kept themselves more in tune with the match compared to the California match. The Devils earned their third highest hitting percentage of the season at .317 against the Cardinal.
12 errors and nine service errors hampered key chances for the Sun Devils, as Stanford capitalized on them. Stanford’s Jenna Gray led the match with 12 digs and 29 assists in the Cardinal’s clinic.
The Sun Devils now sit 10-7 (2-4 Pac-12) on the season with an intimidating schedule to follow. ASU travels to “The Evergreen State” to visit the top 15 ranked Washington and Washington State.
