ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils swept in Los Angeles road trip

Arizona State volleyball was swept by the Los Angeles schools, falling in straight sets to No. 20 UCLA (25-13, 25-20, 25-14) and in five sets to No. 15 USC (23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 15-9).

No. 25 Arizona State was riding high after their win against No. 15 Washington and subsequent ranking in the AVCA Coaches Poll. However, Wednesday’s loss against the Bruins was a gut punch for a team enjoying its first national ranking since 2015.

Middle blockers Carmen Unzue and Megan Beddie were again some of ASU’s top scores as they both recorded five kills, but neither recorded an impressive hitting percentage. Unzue hit just .286 and the previously red-hot Beedie managed just a .250.

Transfer senior Alyse Ford also recorded five kills, but took 21 attacks to do so. Outside hitters Ivana Jeremic and Claire Kovensky combined for just five kills. Kovensky had one of her worst hitting performances of the season hitting -.062. Jeremic and Ford didn’t fare much better, with both hitting .000.

On the UCLA side, freshman outside hitter Mac May led the way, picking up a match-high 13 kills. The Bruins were also incredibly effective out of the middle as Kyra Rogers and Madeleine Gates combined for 17 kills and a stifling seven blocks.

On Friday, the Sun Devils looked for a bounce back victory in transfer Alyse Ford’s Galen Center homecoming against USC. Ford tallied 791 kills during her three seasons with the Trojans, and picked up 12 on Friday night.

Kovensky and Jeremic also had bounce-back matches, with Kovensky leading the team with 17 kills and Jeremic following right behind with 15. Megan Beedie recorded eight kills while hitting a team-high .412 and grabbing six blocks.

The Trojans were led by outside hitters Khalia Lanier and Brooke Botkin. Lanier led the match with 29 kills, while Botkin followed with 22. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro was the catalyst behind many of those kills, notching a whopping 59 assists on the evening.

The two losses will likely drop the Sun Devils out of the rankings, but ASU has a chance to rebound with unranked Utah and Colorado traveling to Tempe next weekend. ASU’s backloaded home schedule means many of their matches down the stretch will be in Wells Fargo Arena, and three of their next four matches are against teams currently not ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

First serve in ASU’s match against Utah is scheduled for 7 p.m on Friday Oct. 19. ASU goes on to face Colorado on Sunday Oct. 21 with first serve coming at 2 p.m.