ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils welcome LA schools

After forcing the No. 11 Washington Huskies into five sets on Sunday, Arizona State welcomes USC and No. 14 UCLA to Desert Financial Arena this weekend.

Following the loss on Sunday, senior libero Jamye Cox addressed the team’s energy following the five set loss and moving forward into next week.

“We know we could have won. I think a lot of us are definitely upset, definitely mad, ready to get in there and win this next game,” Cox said. “We’re excited; today was a good day and nothing but getting better from here.”

Arizona State (8-9, 1-5 PAC-12) will look to carry over its offensive success from Sunday’s match against the Huskies. Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic had a team-high 22 kills, her fourth match this season with 20 or more kills. Fellow outside hitter, sophomore Marta Levinska matched her season high 16 kills. Arizona State also got production from freshman outside hitter Geli Cyr, who reached double-figures in kills for the first time, tallying 12.

Those three were able to come together offensively to put on a complete performance and will look to stay consistent and emulate that performance as they cap off a two-week homestand this weekend.

USC: (7-8, 3-3 PAC-12)

The Trojans come into this match after being swept by No. 17 Utah on Friday and defeating then No. 24 Colorado in four sets Sunday.

This will be the first matchup between the two schools since 2019 when the Trojans beat the Sun Devils in five sets in Tempe. The schools were set to meet twice last year before both matches were cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within the USC program. Arizona State hasn’t defeated USC since the Sun Devils upset a 14th-ranked Trojans squad at home in November 2018.

The Sun Devils will look to neutralize both outside hitters Shannon Scully and Brooke Botkin when they welcome the Trojans Friday night. Scully had her highest output on the Trojans after finishing with 15 kills, while hitting at .333 percentage this past Sunday against Colorado.

Botkin comes into this match leading the Trojans in kills (231), while having reached double figures in all 15 matches USC has played this season.

No. 14 UCLA: (12-2, 5-1 PAC-12)

Head coach Michael Sealy has led UCLA to its best start to a season since its NCAA National Championship campaign back in 2011.

The Bruins are coming off a weekend that saw them sweep two ranked teams in consecutive matches in Colorado and Utah. Those victories gave the Bruins four ranked wins this season, previously defeating No. 16 Georgia Tech and No. 18 Stanford.

Freshman outside hitter Charitie Luper is coming off a career-best performance with 20 kills at a .400 clip, adding to her seven digs and two solo blocks.

Luper was once again named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Monday, earning the award for the third time this season. Luper leads all Pac-12 freshmen in kills per set (3.57) and points per set (4.00), ranking 9th and 10th overall in the conference in each statistical category. She also is leading UCLA with a .322 hitting percentage, and has carried the mantle for the Bruins leading in kills in four matches this season.

Outside hitter Mac May leads the Bruins with 243 kills and averages 4.50 kills per set. May has recorded double-digit kills in 13 of 14 matches this season for the Bruins.

May and Luper are a strong 1-2 punch that the Sun Devils will have to lookout for on Sunday against the Bruins. May and Luper lead all Pac-12 scoring tandems in combined kills per set (8.07) and points per set (9.07). The tandem both rank in the top four in the conference in both statistical categories; May is first in kills per set (4.72) and third in points per set (5.12), and Luper is fourth in both kills per set (4.33) and points per set (4.87).

Arizona State lost both matches to UCLA last season and are looking to snap an 11-match losing streak against the Bruins.

This season the Sun Devils are 0-5 against ranked teams with three of those matches going five sets. The Sun Devils will look to end the two-game losing streak they are currently on and improve upon their 3-6 record in games played at Desert Financial Arena.

Friday’s matchup against USC starts at 7 p.m. and Sunday’s match against UCLA will begin at 1 p.m.