ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils prepare for crucial road trip to Los Angeles

(Photo: Paige Cook/WCSN)

Sun Devil volleyball (14-13, 7-9 Pac-12) will head to Los Angeles this weekend to end the season on the road over the next two weeks. The team most likely needs to win three of its final four matches to have any chance at participating in the NCAA Tournament.

Head coach Sanja Tomasevic believes that road matches have been helpful to the development of the Sun Devils.

“We talk about road games being a good thing for us and actually helping us because we get to be together, stay together, eat together, watch film together; we spend a lot of time together,” Tomasevic said. “I think that’s good. There are some other sports that stay in a hotel the night before a game and we never get to do that when we’re at home.

“But I really do think that helps because it gets your mind right. So I’m not that concerned about us being on the road. L.A. is a relatively easy trip from the travel standpoint because it’s a short flight for us. We stay in the same hotel for four days and we don’t have to switch hotels like we do at some other schools. I think that’s going to help us.”

Arizona State will take on No. 13 UCLA on Friday at 7 p.m. MST before taking on USC Sunday at 2 p.m. MST.

The Sun Devils will look to improve on their serve receive and timing of their offense heading into the weekend.

“I think the rhythm of our offense is super important,” Tomasevic said. “I think we do have enough good arms in the gym right now that we can have people contribute at all times from each pin.”

Freshman outside hitter Geli Cyr was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week Monday after recording double figure kills over the weekend, with 12 against Colorado and 10 against Utah. Cyr also notched her fourth double-double of the season last Friday against the Buffaloes.

Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic remains the team leader in kills with 449. Isanovic has reached 20+ kills in eight matches this season. Isanovic is also 40 kills away from entering the top-10 for total kills in a single season in ASU history. Her kill total is already the highest for a Sun Devil since 2017.

No. 13 UCLA (20-4, 13-3 Pac-12)

UCLA is coming off a split this past weekend. The Bruins defeated Oregon State, but lost to No. 16 Oregon. UCLA is tied with Washington for first place in the Pac-12 as the conference season winds down.

UCLA fell to ASU in their last matchup in Tempe in a reverse sweep.

Graduate student outside hitter Mac May leads the Bruins in kills with 428 this season. May is third in kills in the Pac-12 behind Isanovic. May also ranks second in kills per set with 4.76.

Graduate student setter Shelby Martin leads UCLA with 928 total assists this season, good for third overall in the Pac-12.

USC (11-14, 7-9 Pac-12)

USC lost to No. 16 Oregon and swept Oregon State over the weekend.

Freshman setter Mia Tuaniga is coming off a double-double against Oregon where she had a career-high 61 assists, her seventh double-double of the season. Tuaniga leads the team with 566 assists this season.

Grad outside hitter Brooke Botkin comes into the match leading USC in kills with 356, fifth best in the Pac-12.