(Photo: Haley Spracale/WCSN)
In order for the Sun Devils to be successful in the Pac-12, they need to be offensively consistent, and it may be that last Sunday’s match against UCLA was an off-game.
However, Arizona State’s most recent match against Colorado was much too close a game when comparing the teams by ranking, yet in their dominating home-opener against the Arizona Wildcats the Sun Devils looked unstoppable.
This begs the question: is there a level of inconsistency that is preventing the Sun Devils from becoming a threat in the Pac-12?
After a relatively mild offensive presence in the first two conference matches, senior outside hitter, Jada Burse, set the tone for the Sun Devils’ offense on Friday night. Burse produced a total of 12 kills hitting at a .188 clip.
Fellow senior outside, Ivana Jeremic, was also able to pick up the momentum, helping Burse carry the offense against the Buffaloes. Jeremic doubled her kill total from the UCLA match, with a total of 13 kills hitting at a below-average .222 clip.
“Iva’s up and down,” head coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “She had a good match against UofA, not a good match against UCLA, a good match tonight. It’s a rollercoaster with her.”
Jeremic surprisingly led the team in digs with a total of 17, surpassing senior libero, Courtney Leffel. Against UCLA, Jeremic totaled only five digs while Leffel had double that number. Markedly, senior setter, Callie Jones, also produced more digs than Leffel in Friday night’s match with a total of 15.
Unlike the first two conference games, Megan Beedie displayed a threat as a middle hitter which has been a notably quiet position in regards to point-scoring in the first few matches of the season. Beedie produced a total of eight kills for the Sun Devils.
CU Boulder’s defense managed to read the offense several times throughout the match because the sets mainly were sent to the outside.
In the match against the Bruins, ASU’s setters likewise faced difficulty with accuracy. It was such a prevalent problem that Arizona State used all three of their setters in Los Angeles, attempting to find a consistent combination of accurate sets and hits.
Senior setters, Callie Jones and Nicole Peterson, totaled just 16 assists combined against the Bruins. Facing CU Boulder, both senior setters had a much easier time getting to the ball, yet they still grappled with getting the perfect set to their hitters consistently.
Jones produced a total of 26 assists and Peterson had a total of 20, highlighting the inconsistency of the Sun Devil offense in just two consecutive matches.
The Sun Devils are currently ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12 standings and will face a tough test against ranked Utah on Sunday at noon.
