(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
In a match where the emotions were running high and the seniors were honored, the No. 24 Arizona State Sun Devils lost a heartbreaker to the No. 11 UCLA Bruins in five sets 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 26-28, and 10-15.
“Tonight we were plugging away, and we had a couple plays in game four to put it away, and we could not do it,” ASU head coach Jason Watson said.
The Sun Devils offense started out the match slow as they were being out swung by the Bruins early. The passing was not on target, and the Bruins took 10 swings compared to ASU’s four to build a 6-3 lead.
UCLA continued to hammer way and junior outside hitter Jordan Anderson tallied six early kills on nine attempts to push UCLA out in front 18-10
As the set progressed more swings came for the Sun Devils, but they did not register their first kill until freshman outside hitter Lexi MacLean registered one on ASU’s 22nd swing. The Sun Devils would only finish the set with seven kills compared to UCLA’s 19.
“I thought, to UCLA’s credit, they served remarkably well,” Watson said. “I thought because of that, we could not get any offense going. Their serving was particularly good, and that disrupted our offense all night.”
The second set was filled with long rallies, but UCLA started to solidify its lead by keeping constant pressure on the Sun Devils and making great defensive saves.
The Sun Devils continued their run of points behind a blocking barrage, going on a 8-0 run and taking a 21-17 lead. On the string of points, ASU tallied three blocks increasing its match total to eight.
Early in the third set, it seemed that the Sun Devils wanted to focus on setting senior middle blocker Whitney Follette as she had three early kills on nine attempts, but ASU fell behind by a score of 9-7.
“We definitely wanted to open up our middles more,” senior setter Bianca Arellano said. “They were getting kills for the very small attempts they were getting. In hindsight we could have pushed them a little bit more.”
ASU continued to mount pressure as it went on a 10-6 run to increase its lead to 23-17. Three players tallied a kill on the run: Follette, junior outside hitter Cassidy PIckrell, and senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns.
The Bruins were able to hold off two set points before the Sun Devils took the second set by a score of 25-19.
The defensive show that ASU was putting on was lead in part by Binns who had seven total blocks, which included three solo blocks.
“We are blocking some balls which is nice,” Watson said. “Turns out you have to be able to kill a couple of balls too. Therein lies the difference.”
The fourth set brought no difference for the Sun Devils and their defense. Quickly, ASU had three more blocks to add on to the match total, 17, the team finished with 21 total blocks. UCLA did not let that affect its play though, as the score knotted itself up at 10 all.
The Sun Devils were able to build up a lead of 18-14 behind strong hitting from Pickrell, who had five kills in the set, and she would finish the match with 11 kills.
The Bruins made a comeback however behind a 7-1 run lead by Tempe native junior outside hitter Haley Lawless who had two crucial kills on the run. UCLA was able to tie the score back up at 23 a piece.
The intensity of the set built up as the teams traded points back-and-forth until UCLA finally took the fourth set by a score of 28-26.
In the fifth and final set UCLA took a slight lead, 8-6, behind three kills by Lawless, who moved her match total to 10.
The Sun Devils had trouble defending the slide attack from junior middle blocker Claire Felix who had 12 kills on 25 swings with three errors, for a hitting percentage of .360. One of the kills came at a crucial moment siding UCLA out and giving it a 9-8 advantage.
The Sun Devils could not overcome the pressure mounted by UCLA’s offense, specifically the 24 kills from Anderson. ASU dropped the fifth set and the match by a score of 15-10.
Next up for the Sun Devils is No. 1 USC on Sunday afternoon back in Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
If you have any questions or comments, you can contact Jacob Franklin via twitter @Jacob_Franklin4 or via email at jacobfranklin093@gmail.com.
