(Photo: Brenden Belfield/WCSN)
Heading to the LA schools, Arizona State was only a game above .500, but the possibility of an NCAA Tournament berth was real. But after being swept by UCLA, Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic and her squad needed a win over USC to keep them in the national conversation. Instead, the Devils would fall victim to both schools, as the Trojans won in four sets.
Arizona State was able to jump out to an early 8-6 lead after USC endured four errors. Sophomore middle blocker Claire Jeter would give the Devils a 13-9 lead by contributing two kills. Following that run, freshman Meadow Cooper and sophomore Ella Snyder would each contribute a service ace. This forced Trojan head coach Brad Keller to call his first timeout of the match.
After the timeout, USC’s offense would flip a switch and battle back into the set. The Trojans were able to cut the Devils’ six-point lead to three. Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic would call her first timeout to regroup her squad. The timeout proved to be vital as it lit a spark under Iman Isanovic and Marta Levinska. The pair would contribute four kills, giving the Devils the first set, 25-21.
After a competitive first set, both teams ramped up the intensity in the second set. In the beginning stages, Arizona State and USC traded points. This continued until the Sun Devils captured a 12-10 lead. Levinska led the charge early on by accumulating three kills. The lead would hold until the Trojans were able to go on a 3-0 scoring run. USC’s run was sparked by an error by graduate student Jamye Cox.
Taking advantage of the mistake were Brooke Botkin and Sabrina Smith, who each contributed with a kill. The run gave life to the Trojans, tying the set at 15. After trading errors and kills, the score would increase knot again at 22. At that point, Tomasevic called a timeout to discuss the ending of the set with her team. The timeout would backfire, as USC’s Sabrina Smith would have two kills and a block to seal the set for the Trojans, 25-23.
The first two sets were as competitive as one could ask for and it appeared the third set would follow that trend. Instead, it become a nightmare for the Devils. The Trojans opened the set on a 5-0 scoring run. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter Kalen Owes led the run with two kills, but the damage continued. A kill from Levinska would end the scoring run only for another one to start. Following the kill, USC would explode on a 6-0 run, increasing its lead to 13-5. Although the Devils trailed by seven, they would hang around and slowly chip away at the lead. But it would be Ella Snyder who would lead Arizona State on its own 5-0 scoring run.
The 6-foot setter racked up four of her 37 assists during the run. The deficit was now cut to three, but that would be as close as the Devils could get as the Trojans went on another 4-0 scoring run. The momentum would prove to be too much to overcome, as USC took the third set with a final score of 25-19.
With their backs against the wall, Arizona State would need to win the next two sets to leave the City of Angels with a win. The Devils managed to jump out to an early 6-4 lead. But it would be the largest Arizona State lead of the set. Following the 11-10 lead change, the USC would outscore the Devils 14-6. The Trojans were able to pull off this dominant performance by going on multiple runs, the largest being a 7-0 scoring run. The constant runs amounted to be too much for the Devils to handle, as they dropped the fourth set 25-16.
Following the sweep in Los Angeles, Arizona State will travel north on Nov. 24, to face Oregon State. The matchup will be the first since Oregon State’s five-set victory on Feb. 12, during the Pac-12’s spring COVID season.
First serve will be at 1:00 p.m. On Nov. 27, Arizona State will return to Arizona for the final match of the season. But instead of stopping in Tempe, the Devils will head to Tucson for a rematch against the Arizona Wildcats. In the last Territorial Cup matchup, the Wildcats came to Tempe and defeated the Devils in a five-set thriller.
