(Photo: Travis David V Whittaker/WCSN)
Losers of their last six matches, the Arizona State Sun Devils (13-11, 4-8) head to Washington to take on the Huskies on Friday night and the Cougars on Sunday afternoon. The Sun Devil offense, which recently dipped below a .200 hitting percentage on the year, has struggled during their recent matches.
Washington (13-9, 5-7 Pac-12)
In a matchup of two of the coldest teams in the Pac-12, ASU heads to Seattle Friday night to take on the Huskies. When Washington visited Tempe earlier this season, the Huskies were ranked 15th in the nation and fell to the Sun Devils in three sets (25-23, 25-17, 25-22). While the Sun Devils have not won a game since Oct. 7, the Huskies have not won a match since a three-set win over California on Oct. 12.
The Husky offense is led by junior Kara Bajema, who has 315 kills on the season. The team as a whole hit .222 for the season. The Devils take on the Huskies at 7 p.m. Friday night.
No. 18 Washington State (17-5, 8-4 Pac-12)
On Sunday, the Sun Devils travel to Pullman to take on the Cougars, who are tied for second in the conference with an 8-4 record. They’ll play No. 21 Arizona Friday night looking to extend their four-match winning streak before taking on the Sun Devils later in the weekend.
When head coach Jen Greeny and the Cougars traveled to Tempe in early October, Washington State took down ASU in three sets (25-17, 25-21, 25-17), behind a balanced offensive attack. In that early conference matchup, McKenna Woodford led the Cougars with 11 kills, while Taylor Mims added 10 more.
Arizona State plays Washington State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Outlook
The Sun Devils are 3-4 on the road this season, suffering a three-set loss to No. 20 UCLA and a five-set loss to No. 15 USC on their most recent trip. Following Sunday’s loss to Oregon State in Tempe, head coach Sanja Tomasevic said she needed more consistent play from her squad.
“I’m truly disappointed in how our girls are playing lately and it just can’t be like that,” Tomasevic said. “We haven’t lost this season because somebody was better than us. Whenever we’ve lost, we’ve lost because we decided not to follow the scouting report.”
