(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-16 overall, 0-14 in Pac-12) faced the No. 18 UCLA Bruins (15-8 overall, 8-6 in Pac-12) losing in a sweep in what was another inconsistent outing.
UCLA came out of the gate firing and the Devils struggled to keep up. ASU only had 11 successful kills compared to the Bruins 21 in the first set, a major reason why the Devils only accumulated 16 points. Furthering their issues was their inability to successfully pass or serve, and this led to their downfall in the first set 25-16.
Much of the same in set two boosted the Bruins’ confidence while continually demoralizing the Devils. Once again they only managed 11 kills in this set in a measly .143 hitting percentage as compared to the .281 hitting percentage in the previous set. Not much output from usually aggressive senior middle blocker Oluoma Okaro forced freshman outside hitter Griere Hughes to carry much of the offensive load. However, it was hard for just her to take all the work on, and the Bruins took set two by the same score of 25-16.
Although set three showed slight improvement for the Devils it was too little, too late. The Bruins were able to escape a number of runs from the Devils to finish the game with a final score of 25-21.
For the Devils, Hughes finished with a game-leading 13 kills while Okaro was tied with junior outside hitter Peyton Grahovac and senior outside hitter Isabel Miller with four. Those three were tied for the second highest amount of kills on the team, an indicator of how rough the night was for ASU offensively
For the Bruins, three players reached the double-digit kill mark: senior outside hitter Reily Buechler with 12, sophomore middle blocker Madeleine Gates with 11 and freshman outside hitter Mac May with 10. They finished with a .366 hit percentage on a relatively effective night for them.
After this three-set sweep, the Devils are still looking for their first win in conference play this season riding a 14 game losing streak. The Devils take on No. 15 Oregon in their next match on Friday, Nov. 9, back at home. In their first match against the Ducks, the Devils were swept in three-sets by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-14.
