ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils take second set, lose in four to UCLA

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-7, 0-5 Pac-12) fell to the UCLA Bruins (11-4, 4-2 Pac-12) in four sets (14-25, 25-20, 20-25, 19-25) on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Bruins gained an early lead against the Sun Devils early in the opening set. They created an organized offense early in the match, which greatly contributed to their success. UCLA setter Sarah Sponcil had eight more assists in the first set than ASU setter Shelbie Dobmeier. Sponcil’s ability to generate more assists for the Bruins’ helped to create a quick and well-structured offense that challenged the Sun Devils during the start of the match.

In addition to creating organization on their side of the net, the Bruins also made sure to cause plenty of movement among the Sun Devils. Their front line made sure to send a variety of hits over. As a result, the Sun Devils were rarely able to settle down to create a systematic defense. Instead, they were forced to move around the court which made their coverage much more difficult.

“We had moments tonight where too many people would go for one ball and nobody would get it,” ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “As a coach, I would rather that than nobody go for the ball.”

The second set included a lot of momentum for the Sun Devils. They opened the set with offensive tenacity and quick defense, which lead to multiple rallies and a victory. Senior Oluoma Okaro stepped up as an offensive fulcrum, leading the team with eight kills in the set. Collectively, Okaro and the Sun Devils found success during the second set by eliminating minor errors that they made during the start of the match.

“We just realized in the first set that we kind of got destroyed,: Okaro said. “I remember a lot of the mistakes we made weren’t UCLA doing anything terrific. They got a bunch of tips [in the first set], so I think picking up the tips for sure helped us a lot,”

The Sun Devils never lost their momentum which ultimately helped them maintain a lead during the second. As the set went on, the Sun Devils increased the pace of the game, and the Bruins were not able to keep up. The Sun Devils won the set 25-20.

Neither team came out with much intensity during Set 3. Careless errors were more common in the set, which ultimately worked in UCLA’s favor. The Sun Devils preformed best during the third set in terms of blocking, where they put up three of their six total game blocks. However, as their defense at the net increased, their offense at the net slowed down. They had only eight kills while the Bruins had 17. Okaro, who came out as a major threat to the Bruins’ defense in the second set, only had two kills in the third. She admitted that she is still working on her approach to hitting due to the Sun Devils’ constant changes between setters.

“Each setter does have a different tempo,” Okaro said. “One likes to set a little bit higher while the other one likes to set faster and a little more flat. Before I would change my footwork and timing based off of what setter I had, but I decided that I need to stop doing that. Otherwise it is going to keep being inconsistent.”

ASU brought back their hustle for the beginning of the fourth set. Okaro regained both her offensive and defensive stamina with five kills and a block. The Sun Devils kept the set competitive by ensuring that the Bruins never developed a strong lead. Despite that fact, the Bruins took the set 25-19 to win the match and deny the Sun Devils their first conference win.

The Sun Devils hope to get that win Saturday evening, when they face off against the USC Trojans at Wells Fargo Arena at 6 p.m.

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