(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)
Coming off a two-week slate of road matches, Arizona State (6-3, 0-0 Pac-12) is set to host the Sparky Invitational back at Desert Financial Arena. With Pac-12 play starting up next week, the Sun Devils look to extend their three-match winning streak against the Pacific Tigers (3-6) Thursday and the UNLV Rebels (7-2) Saturday.
After nine matches so far this fall, the Sun Devils are attracting higher expectations, already matching their win total from a season ago. Two of their three losses on the year have come against nationally ranked opponents, one of which being the No. 5 Louisville Cardinals.
ASU’s matchup against the Cardinals previewed the kind of strides head coach Sanja Tomasevic expects from her collection of players moving forward. Led by double-digit kill totals from junior and sophomore outsides, Iman Isanovic and Marta Levinska, Arizona State kept in step with Louisville trading sets and fending off five match points throughout. Other solid performances were turned in by junior libero Annika Larson and sophomore setter Ella Snyder with 15 digs and 34 assists, respectively.
Louisville led in all major statistical categories during the Sun Devils’ loss, but the early-season battle was nonetheless a small victory in the eyes of Tomasevic.
“Tough one tonight, but good one for us,” Tomasevic said. “I’m just happy how we fought. I don’t think it would have been surprising if we beat Louisville. I don’t think it would be a shock, not for me, because I think we have talent, and we have personnel to do that. We just don’t have experience… that’s why we scheduled the way we did the preseason.”
Such sentiments from Tomasevic surely foreshadowed what transpired in the weeks following her squad’s first loss against the seasoned Louisville squad. Since then, the Sun Devils have competed in two additional preseason tournaments, the Ameritas Players Challenge and the Lumberjack Classic.
The Ameritas Players Challenge, hosted by Big Ten powerhouse Nebraska, was one of loss and lessons for ASU. Across three matches, the Sun Devils had their hands full, both dropping and winning a five-set match in the span of one day, before Nebraska dominated its matchup with ASU. Dominated in kills, hitting percentage, errors, points, assists and blocks, Tomasevic’s inexperienced squad were given experience in the most bitter forms of struggle and defeat.
Enduring the distaste of losing three of their last four, however, brought the Sun Devils ready and motivated to make better work of their time up in Flagstaff. In a weekend that saw positive performances from most contributing members of the team, Tomasevic and ASU pulled together three straight wins to win the tournament and redeem the confidence and morale of its young team.
With just two seniors, momentum abruptly becomes much more important for the Sun Devils when conference play kicks off next week. The lack of experience for ASU means the final two non-conference contests are all the more important in gaining reps ahead of Pac-12 play.
The first of two matchups this week comes against Pacific, presenting all invested fans with a good-old fashioned trap match.
Pacific’s 3-6 record speaks for itself. Hailing from the West Coast Conference, head coach Greg Gibbons’s squad has only managed to grab six sets in six defeats, with the only victories coming against sub-.500 opponents. Therefore, at the surface of their resumé, the Tigers pose no match for the up-and-coming Sun Devils.
However, coach Gibbons and his players ought not to be underestimated. Out of their six losses, only two such matches were three-setters. The Tigers took a set from the still undefeated North Carolina Tar Heels and an even more impressive two sets against the 7-3 California Golden Bears. And save their opener against the Southern Methodist Mustangs, the matches they dropped have come against opponents above the .500 mark. In other words, the Pacific Tigers have shown to sport the wherewithal to bite back, even against superior squads.
Now, as if the above circumstances weren’t enough to pose the Tigers as a valid threat, the Sun Devils face off against the reigning Mountain West Champions this Saturday to cap their non-conference schedule. The 7-2 Rebels have proven to be just as formidable a force as they were in the COVID-induced spring season, returning nine key players, one of which being All-American and Mountain West Player of the Year, senior outside Mariena Hayden. Those accompanying Hayden include senior middles Milica Tasic and Kate Brennan. Tasic leads the squad with 81 kills on the season and Brennan ranks 9th nationally in hitting percentage.
Arizona State matches up with Pacific Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Desert Financial Arena. Saturday, they take on UNLV at 5 p.m. Both matches can also be seen on the ASU Live Streams.
