(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Following Thursday’s loss to the Cougars in a five-set thriller, Arizona State was unable to split the series against the Washington State Cougars in a 1-3 loss (25-22, 16-25, 16-25 and 19-25).
Coming into the first set of the match, ASU had a strong start with a 3-0 lead after kills by sophomore outside hitter Iman Isanovic, sophomore middle blocker Kennedi Boyd and outside hitter Maddie McLaughlin. Head coach Sonja Tomasevic said she was disappointed with the turnout but felt the team passed better.
“We passed better than we have in the past games, but we couldn’t get our offense running,” Tomasevic said. “On the other side, it kind of looked like they wanted it more than we did. As a coach that’s always frustrating, seeing that the other team wanted it more than your team.”
After the third and final tie of the set came toward the end of the set at 20-20, the Sun Devils began to pull away with kills by Isanovic to give the edge in the first set, 25-22.
With consecutive service errors to begin the second set by both the Cougars and the Sun Devils, it was very neck and neck for both teams. ASU did hold a 4-1 lead following back-to-back block assists from Boyd and freshman outside hitter Marta Levinska. However, the Cougars were able to stay in the set due to a missed serve by Isanovic at the beginning of the set.
Four straight points by WSU came via errors from the Sun Devils as well as blocks and kills from the Cougars, helping WSU begin to pull away with the second set.
When the Cougars led 14-19, ASU called a timeout after a service error by Levinska and an ace for WSU.
“The effort and energy has to be there,” freshman setter Ella Snyder said. “If we are going to win these tough games, then we need to be locked in and have all the energy.”
After a service error for the Cougars, they scored the majority of the points to end the set with RJ exception of a kill from Isanovic.
Going into the third set, WSU went on a 5-0 run to start before a Levinska kill stopped the run. A play came for the Sun Devils trailing, 3-7, where the Sun Devils thought they had a successful pancake, but the referees called it an unsuccessful play. ASU tried to challenge the play, but was unsuccessful in that attempt. Though they were able to pull within one of the Cougars at the middle of the third set, ASU never led throughout the set and dropped it 16-25.
“Everyone is going to make a mistake,” Snyder said. “Everyone’s going to do something they wish they didn’t do. But we just have to forget about those things and [keep] doing what our coaches are saying to us.”
On a kill from Isanovic and a service error from WSU, the Sun Devils had a 2-1 start to the fourth set. The first half of the set remained close and freshman outside hitter Roberta Rabelo had her first career kill for the Sun Devils. Sophomore setter Shannon Shields, a Phoenix native, saw action for the Sun Devils as well in the fourth set. But, the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to put the Sun Devils in a 15-20 deficit before a kill from Boyd led to the end of the run. But, the Sun Devils defense led to the Cougars getting stops on offense and lost the fourth set and match, 16-25.
“I think we are going to have to get better faster. Utah is a really good team, and in my opinion, the best team in the Pac-12,” Tomasevic said of their next Pac-12 matchup. “We are going to have to be a lot more disciplined and stay patient throughout the rallies.”
Arizona State’s second loss of the weekend series drops the Sun Devils’ record to 1-3 on the season and puts them on a three-match skid. They see action next on Friday Feb. 5 against the No. 8 Utah Utes in Tempe.
