(Photo via Reece Andrews/WCSN)
After its Pac-12 Conference opening win over Arizona, Arizona State women’s volleyball (7-8, 1-2 Pac-12) was riding high. Now, two games later, things have spiraled downwards upon being swept in two straight matches.
On Sunday night the Sun Devils will look to end their skid in a matchup with Oregon State (6-7, 1-2 Pac-12).
Perhaps ASU’s most glaring issue has been its lack of offensive production in the last two matches. In their last six sets – with the closest being a seven-point difference – the Sun Devils have averaged 15.6 points on a paltry .112 hitting percentage. In the stretch, ASU has not seen a single double-digit scorer.
Defensively, ASU has not been much better. In its match against Oregon Friday night, the Ducks held a .416 hitting percentage and nearly doubled ASU in kills, with 50 to ASU’s 26. The Sun Devils could not stop senior opposite hitter Gloria Mutiri, who dominated ASU with 14 kills at an absurd .700 clip.
One notable trend for the Sun Devils has been their recent positional battles. Junior setter Ella Snyder has been the usual starter, but head coach Sanja Tomasevic made a change with senior Shannon Shields in the second set against Oregon. Shields ended the day with 18 assists to Snyder’s eight.
In ASU’s match against Colorado last week, senior libero Annika Larson-Nummer got the start. This would soon shift to sophomore Jaden Ravnsborg against the Ducks. The two liberos performed similarly in their respective starts, both recording 10 digs.
So far this year, Oregon State has had a very similar conference season to the Sun Devils. The Beavers are 1-2 through three games of conference play and are coming off a three-set loss to Arizona. In that match, the Beavers were held to a .159 hitting percentage but held tight defensively with an opposing hitting percentage of .239.
Leading the way for Oregon State offensively is sophomore outside hitter Mychael Vernon. Vernon is first among Beavers with 152 kills and is complemented by sophomore outside hitter Vivian Light, whose 122 kills rank second on the team.
An interesting dichotomy will be the amount of experience from both squads. Five of Oregon State’s six starters against Arizona were sophomores or below, while ASU is led mostly by upperclassmen.
The match on Sunday will be broadcasted via Oregon State Live Stream at 12 p.m. MST.
