(Photo: Brendan Badfield/WCSN)
Arizona State rides a wave of momentum from its five match winning streak, with three of those coming against ranked opponents. A home win against a ranked UCLA team Oct. 17 began one of the most successful streaks of volleyball for the Sun Devils in the Sanja Tomasevic era.
The Sun Devils will head to Washington and take on two more ranked opponents in No. 12 Washington and No. 21 Washington State.
The five match winning streak for the Sun Devils is the longest successful streak since 2018. ASU has continued to put together complete performances in consecutive games. Head coach Sanja Tomasevic attributes that to the ability to capitalize on kill opportunities.
“I think we’re getting more kills than what we’ve done in the past. We’re finding ways to get more kills, and I think that our serve receive is getting better with Geli on the court being one of our primary passers and being really good at it,” Tomasevic said. “When you add an outside hitter that can pass, it keeps us stable there as well as getting her kills. She didn’t hit a high hitting percentage today, but with 12 kills she did a good job getting the ball and getting a kill when we needed her to get a kill”.
Junior Iman Isanovic has 364 kills this season, ranking second in the Pac-12. Sunday’s win over Stanford was her 22nd match with double digit kills. Freshman Geli Cyr has recorded double figures in kills in five straight matches. Junior Annika Larson continues to keep rallies alive with multiple digs each match, an area she ranks second in the Pac-12.
No. 12 Washington (16-4, 9-3 Pac-12)
The Huskies saw a nine match win streak end last Sunday at UCLA and now sit one game behind the Bruins atop the Pac-12 standings. The two teams last met in Tempe Oct. 10 when the Huskies defeated the Sun Devils in five sets.
Senior Samantha Drechsel led the Huskies Sunday with 10 kills. Senior Lauren Sanders will look to add on to her career block total after she got her 616 block of her career Sunday and moved into second in Huskies history. Sanders leads the Pac-12 in 1.42 blocks per set.
Junior Ella May Powell is a setter the Sun Devils would like to neutralize this weekend. Powell leads the Huskies with 854 assists, the next highest being 51. Powell also leads the teams in service aces with 29.
The Huskies are a talented team who reached the NCAA tournament last season and made it all the way to the semifinals. The alma mater of Tomasevic will put the Sun Devils win streak to the test, while offering a postseason atmosphere.
No. 21 Washington State (14-8, 8-4 Pac-12)
The Cougars last faced off against the LA schools beating USC and falling to No. 16 UCLA. They also sit two games behind UCLA in the Pac-12 standings.
When Arizona State and Washington State last met, the Cougars swept the Sun Devils in three matches. Washington State also made the NCAA tournament last season and wound up losing in the first round.
For the Sun Devils they will look to neutralize junior Pia Timmer once again. In the previous match between the two schools, Timmer was held to single digit kills after finishing the previous five matches with 15+ kills. Timmer ranks fourth in kills within the Pac-12.
Junior Magda Jehlarova put up a near perfect stat line in the previous meeting against the Sun Devils finishing with 11 kills, three blocks and three digs.
Arizona State will take on No. 12 Washington Friday night at 7 p.m. and No. 21 Washington State on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
