ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils drop conference opener in five sets to Wildcats

(Photo: Dominic Contini/WCSN)

Arizona State opened up Pac-12 play at home against their in-state rival Arizona. The Sun Devils lost to the Wildcats in what was another five-set match for the team (25-23, 16-25, 17-25, 25-21, 9-15).

Head coach Sanja Tomasevic expressed that the team fought hard tonight but were unable to overcome their own mistakes.

“Tough one. We played tough and we never gave up at any point, but our offense couldn’t get it going today,” Tomasevic said. “And even though our serve receive wasn’t in bad shape, we just couldn’t hit well. So, it’s a tough night when we have our two best players hit low numbers. We need more from them to win games.”

A lack of scoring production from ASU’s top hitters hurt the Sun Devils ability to sustain consistent offense Thursday night. The Sun Devils were unable to limit large scoring runs by the Wildcats throughout all five sets of the match.

“We need to make it one and done. When we get a perfect pass, we need to execute,” explained Tomasevic. “And that’s not just on the setters, that’s on the hitters too. If the setter trusts you to set you a ball, you better put it away. It’s just disappointing.”

After taking the first set of the match, the Sun Devils would then fall behind following back-to-back set wins by the Wildcats before evening it up after four and forcing the match into a fifth set. Unable to slow down a long scoring run from the Wildcats, the Sun Devils dropped the final set 9-15.

The first set opened up with both teams going back and forth throughout the set. A 6-0 scoring run by the Sun Devils and 8-0 scoring run from the Wildcats would lead to five ties and three lead changes throughout the opening set. The Sun Devils got key contributions from junior Iman Isanovic with a team-high four kills and junior libero Annika Larson was able to start many counter attacks with five digs. Following a kill by freshman Andi Kreiling the Sun Devils took the first set, 25-23.

The Wildcats were able to start the second set with an early 6-2 lead, which was quickly erased by a 5-0 scoring run from the Sun Devils. The Wildcats were in control the rest of the set following the scoring run by the Sun Devils. Arizona saw its lead grow to as large as eight points in the set and would even the set score up following a 25-16 set victory. The Wildcats were able to rally behind a .407 hitting percentage and .444 kill percentage in the second set. The Sun Devils had seven attack errors and were unable to overcome those throughout the set.

An early battle during the third set fell through and errors by the Sun Devils led to a 6-0 scoring run from the Wildcats. Despite going on small scoring runs themselves the errors for ASU were too much to overcome. The Wildcats would go on to take the set, 25-17.

Both teams were unable to pull away from each other during the fourth set that saw 10 ties and three lead changes. After being tied at 18, the Sun Devils finally took control and won the set, 25-21. The match would be determined in a fifth and final set, the first to 15.

The Sun Devils opened the final set up 7-5, before a 7-0 scoring run by the Wildcats put them behind 12-7. The Sun Devils were unable to overcome the scoring run from the Wildcats and dropped the set 15-9.

For Tomasevic and the Sun Devils there are some things that need to be fixed before Sunday’s matchup against Oregon.

“We’re going to have to do a lot better, Oregon is a really good team,” Tomasevic told reporters Thursday night following the loss. “They got weapons from all of the sides, they have really good offense, literally from every cylinder: every middle, every right side, every outside is good on their team. We’re going to have to play a lot better, we’re going to have to serve a lot better.”

Sophomore middle blocker Claire Jeter noted areas she felt the Sun Devils could improve on for Sunday’s match.

“I think that we tend to win certain sets and then lose sets by a pretty big range. I feel like we get a little in our heads and a little tight. I feel like our team just needs to loosen up a little bit and just have a little more fun on the court. Once we do that, we will be able to win,” Jeter said. “On the fifth set, we just don’t have enough time to make errors and redeem ourselves. If we could just step out on the court and play our game from the beginning, we would have the fifth set easily.”

The Sun Devils host No. 13 Oregon on Sunday at 12 p.m. at Desert Financial Arena.