(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)
The last time Arizona State women’s volleyball faced off against the two Pac-12 Conference schools from Los Angeles, it didn’t go as the Sun Devils hoped.
It was the worst weekend of the season for ASU (11-13, 5-7 Pac-12) so far in Pac-12 play, as it was swept by UCLA (11-10, 5-7 Pac-12) and then lost in four sets to USC (16-7, 8-4 Pac-12). The Bruins and the Trojans dominated the Sun Devils, and now ASU will travel to the City of Angels to avenge those two losses.
The Sun Devils are coming off a split weekend with the two Oregon schools. ASU looked impressive in its win over Oregon State as, after losing the first set, the Sun Devils took control of the final three while leaning on their star outside hitter junior Marta Levinska.
In its second game of the weekend, ASU was swept by Oregon in a disappointing performance. The loss continued a trend for the Sun Devils, as it was the third straight weekend that they had won the first game before falling flat in the second.
In ASU’s last match against UCLA, it was returning home for the first time in five weeks and faced a favorable opportunity against an 0-4 Bruins squad in Pac-12 play.
UCLA was able to get three hitters in double-digits as graduate outside hitter élan McCall, junior outside hitter Iman Ndiaye and sophomore outside hitter Charitie Luper all reached 11 kills. The Sun Devils’ performance on the service line assisted the Bruins, with ASU recording nine service errors and zero service aces.
The last time USC and ASU faced off, the match featured a one-woman show from senior outside hitter Skylar Fields. The Texas transfer has been fantastic for the Trojans, recording a team-high 412 kills on an efficient .334 hitting percentage. But in her match against ASU, Fields was otherworldly.
ASU was impressive out of the gate, taking the opening set 25-18, but Fields handled business the rest of the way. The senior recorded a career-high 27 kills on a .429 hitting percentage, and added 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season up to that point.
ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic recognized Fields’ dominant night in the post-game press conference.
“We couldn’t touch Skylar Fields, so that’s very disappointing,” Tomasevic said. “I wish we could have at least made some touches to play some defense behind. She was unbelievable tonight. Not to take anything away from anybody else on that team – that’s a good team, that’s a well-coached team. But Skylar Fields versus ASU Volleyball is how it went.”
USC’s home venue will also prove a daunting challenge on Friday night. The Trojans are 10-1 at the Galen Center this year, with their only loss coming in a five-set nail-biter against Washington State.
