ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils swept in haunting loss to No. 18 Oregon

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

The No. 18 Oregon Ducks seemed to dress up as witches for Halloween, as they brought out the brooms and swept Arizona State women’s volleyball (21-25, 24-26, 20-25) on Sunday afternoon.

The Sun Devils’ inconsistent play proved costly against the 15-5 Ducks, who are now on a five-match winning streak. ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic was disappointed by her team’s overall mentality.

“There’s a difference between a team who walks on the court to win and who walks on the court not to lose,” Tomasevic said. “We thought that they could give it to us, and that’s never going to happen against good teams. You have to walk on the court with the intention to win.” 

ASU had its chances to strike against Oregon, as it was one point away from winning the second set. But the Sun Devils could not close it out in deflating fashion, and struggled find momentum in other important moments in the match. In fact, they dug themselves into a 5-10 hole in both the first and third sets which they could not climb out of. 

The Sun Devills were partly faced with these deficits due to the play of Oregon senior outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller. She tallied 20 kills in the match with a ridiculous .514 hitting percentage. Tomasevic was impressed by the Chandler native’s play. 

“She’s clearly a student of the game,” Tomasevic said. “Her volleyball smarts for how old she is [are] through the roof. She’s an example of earning it, she’s working her butt off. She was a libero her freshman year in college, then she got her vertical up to 10’2. She did that, nobody gave her that.”

On the Sun Devils’ side, junior outside hitter Marta Levinska led the way, totaling 16 kills on a .483 hitting percentage. Senior setter Shannon Shields has developed a relationship on and off the court with Levinska as the setter continues to grow comfortable in the starting rotation. Shields talked about the chemistry the two have found with each other. 

“We always are texting like, ‘let’s go get it today’ and I feel like that’s the sort of thing off the court that really builds on the court,” Shields said. “I feel like when I set her, she’s going to get a good swing. Even if she gets blocked, I’m going to keep setting her. It’s been a process but she’s awesome.”

Although the pairing was in sync tonight, the remaining Sun Devils seemed to lack the same cohesion and spirit. Tomasevic thought that her team was too worried about complaining rather than winning. 

“We’re teaching life lessons here too, it’s not only about bump, set, spike,” Tomasevic said. “When you get in the real workforce, you can’t whine your way to raises. You can’t whine your way into anything, into jobs. You have to go and earn it, and I think those are lessons we have to learn here – less whining and more going and getting what you think you deserve.”

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