ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils to face Northern California Schools

(Photo via Xavier Litman/WCSN)

Arizona State women’s volleyball will look to break a five-match losing streak on its final road trip of the season as they face Stanford and California this weekend.

ASU is coming off a hard-fought match against No. 20 Washington last Sunday in which it fell in five sets despite senior outside hitter Iman Isanovic recording 21 kills on a .304 hitting percentage.

It won’t get any easier to start this weekend, as the Sun Devils will match up with No. 8 Stanford on Thursday. The Cardinal has not lost a match since Sept. 25 and is on a 14-match win streak, with only two of those matches going to five sets.

The Cardinal’s high-powered offense is led by senior opposite hitter Kendall Kipp. The 2021 AVCA All-American is averaging 5.14 points per set, good for 10th in the nation. Kipp is joined by redshirt junior outside hitter Caitie Baird and freshman outside hitter Ella Rubin, who both average over three kills per set.

When the Sun Devils last faced the Cardinal in October, they lost in four sets and were outpaced by Stanford in kills, aces, blocks and digs.

California, the Sun Devils’ opponent on Sunday, is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the Cardinal. The Golden Bears are currently on a 16-match losing streak, with their last win coming exactly two months ago on Sept. 17. California hasn’t had a single win in Pac-12 Conference play this season, with one of their losses coming to the Sun Devils in three sets.

But ASU can’t let its guard down, as the Golden Bears have been competitive in their search for a win. In their last three matches against Utah, UCLA, and USC, each of them ended in five sets. California’s biggest threat is junior outside hitter Lydia Grote, who averages 3.69 kills per set.

The Sun Devils continue to be led by their usual threats — Isanovic and junior outside hitter Marta Levinska — but some younger members of the team may get some opportunities as well. As the season has started to wind down, head coach Sanja Tomasevic has started to play more players off the bench, such as freshman outside hitter Leah Miller and junior outside hitter Roberta Rabelo, in bigger roles.

One example of Tomasevic not being scared to shake things up came in the match against Washington when she decided to play sophomore outside hitter Geli Cyr at the libero position in the fourth set. Tomasevic was hoping that the switch could help the offense get back into rhythm.

“We couldn’t pass, and Geli’s our best passer,” Tomasevic said after the match. “When we get stuck in rotations because we can’t get the pass, I need to find a solution and Geli’s been a steady passer for a while.”

The Sun Devils will come in as heavy underdogs in one match and heavy favorites in the other, but they know that they need to focus on themselves rather than the opponent.

“At the end of the day, you can never control what the other team does,” Isanovic said last Sunday. “You can put them in positions, but you never know what’s exactly going to happen … we can only control what we do on the court.”