ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils look for first conference win against Cal

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

Now 0-3 in the conference, the Arizona State Sun Devils (10-5) will take one the University of California, Berkeley Bears (9-4) on Friday in Berkeley at the Haas Pavilion.

The Devils will be looking to continue a trend of winning over the Golden Bears. Dating back to the 2014 season, ASU has taken five of the last six matches it has played against Cal.

At the net, the Sun Devils are led offensively by Olouma Okaro and Griere Hughes. Okaro leads the teams with 242 kills this season. Hughes comes in second with 152. While ASU’s hitting is good statistically, attack errors have been one of the biggest flaws in their offense this season. The team had 14 attack errors in their previous match against Stanford.

The Sun Devils hold an advantage at the net with their setting. Shelbie Dobmeier leads the Sun Devils with 302 assists this season. The Sun Devils average 13.5 assists per set, while the Bears average 12.5 assists per set. In addition, the Bears also have 25 more ball-handling errors this season than the Sun Devils.

Serving and serve-receive will be a major challenge for the Sun Devils coming into the match. Cal generates their greatest offense from behind the service line while ASU struggles behind the line. The Bears have 62 aces this season compared to the Sun Devils’ 44. Antzela Dempi leads the Bears with 25 aces, which is nine more than Okaro, who leads the Sun Devils. Dempi also leads the Bears with 142 kills.

In terms of digging, the Sun Devils have a great defensive centerpiece in senior Halle Harker, who leads the Sun Devils with 278 digs. ASU averages 16.3 digs per set, which is higher than the Cal’s average of 12.9 digs per set. However, the Cal has 51 reception errors this season while ASU has a total of 54.

Both teams will look to end their three-game losing streak with a win on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Haas Pavilion.

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