(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-12, 0-10 Pac-12) will host the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal (17-2, 10-0 Pac-12) on Friday night in Wells Fargo Arena, with the Sun Devils looking to break a 10-game losing streak.
This is the second time this season that the two teams will go head-to-head. Stanford swept Arizona State in three sets during the last match.
The Cardinal are a very skilled, well-rounded team. The team has a .895 win percentage with their only two losses being to No. 5 Penn State. They are currently riding a 12-game win streak in addition to having a 9-0 away game record.
One of Stanford’s biggest advantages going up against the Sun Devils is their height. The Cardinal players are much taller, which allows them to create both a dominant defense and offense from high above the net. At 6-foot-6, Kathryn Plummer leads the Cardinal offense with 302 kills. She is also third on the team in blocking with 49 blocks this season. At 6-foot-8, hitter Merete Lutz follows Plummer with 143 kills on the season. Stanford’s attack up at the net will challenge ASU’s hitters to play aggressive volleyball if they want any chance in scoring.
“I try and focus on getting my hitters in the best situation possible,” Arizona State setter Nicole Peterson said. “There’s definitely a lot to that, especially against a team like Stanford who is so tall and puts up a great block.”
Unlike the Cardinal, the Sun Devils have a very one-dimensional offense that is based heavily on the attack. Senior Oluoma Okaro leads the Sun Devils with 352 kills this season. While her numbers are impressive, the Sun Devils will need to create a more versatile offense in order to come out victorious against the second-best team in the nation. Stanford is dominant with their blocks, serves and kills, which creates an offense that is adaptable and effective from all aspects of the court. They gain points by putting up great offense in addition to putting up great defense.
“They’re very tall,” Peterson said. “It is a very high-reaching, hard-swinging offense. When we play a team like that, we just have to go in with nothing to lose because they are very good. So we’re just going to come at them swinging. We’re going to play confidently and aggressively. Hopefully it goes our way.”
Arizona State has struggled all season to create a consistent serving game. They come up short in putting up tough serves in addition to receiving tough serves. As a result, they rarely gain points from ace serves, and their sideout percentage is low after almost every match. On the contrary, Stanford has great offense in serving. The Cardinal have posted a promising 105 aces this season compared to the Sun Devils’ 59 aces. The Cardinal also have 59 reception errors while the Sun Devils have 84.
“I’m working on my passing,” Arizona State hitter Ivana Jeremic said. “They’re a pretty tall team, so their serves come from pretty high. Everything starts with serving and passing. If we don’t serve tough, we don’t have any chances. We are definitely waiting for that moment when our serve comes in a game. It looks totally different in our practices than in our games.”
