(Photo: Noah Findling/WCSN)
Ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1996, the No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devils head into head coach Jason Watson’s seventh season with the highest expectations since his arrival in 2008. ASU was selected to finish fourth in the Pac-12.
“The confidence level is pretty high,” Watson said. “And I think that comes on the heels of this emotional, roller-coaster 2013 season, but I think they feel pretty good about some things.”
A lot of the preseason hype is banking on the fact that ASU returns all but one starter, libero Stephanie Preach, this season. Although Preach graduated as second on ASU’s all-time career digs list, the Sun Devils boast experience up and down their lineup, especially at the net.
However, the major question during the summer was about who would step up and replace Preach in the libero spot, and Watson said this week that freshman Halle Harker is “a little bit ahead” of redshirt freshman Genevieve Pirotte and sophomore Mia Mazon in winning the libero spot.
Harker reigns from Bakersfield, California, and caught Watson’s attention during a club tournament in Las Vegas. She also participated in the U-18 USA Division Girl’s Junior National Championships in which she was named MVP.
“When you’re evaluating liberos, I think – certainly the ability to receive serve is probably one, and then digging and maybe serving. Those are the three things (you look for) and probably in that order,” Watson said. “Serve receive, right now, is probably the distinguishing trait that’s got [Harker] a little bit ahead of everybody else.”
Replacing Preach not only means replacing their leading defensive player, but also finding a new identity on the floor. Preach was widely regarded as a catalyst for the team’s energy and a leader with experience. Now, outside hitter Macey Gardner, middle blocker Whitney Follette and setter Bianca Arellano will look to step into those leadership roles in their junior year.
“This year’s team is going to take on this trait that isn’t, you know – look at someone like Macey, look at someone like Bianca and Follette too, for that matter – that really like competing, who compete really, really hard, but don’t do it in this really loud way and very much want to let their play dictate some of that kind of stuff,” Watson said.
More on-the-court experience was gained over the summer by a handful of returning Sun Devils as well, so the confidence has increased to match the increased hype around the program. However, the Sun Devils do feel like they have something to prove because of the struggles they went through last season, most notably in October when they lost seven straight matches.
“If we learned anything last year, we got caught up in (the rankings) and didn’t get better,” Watson said.
Because of that adversity, the team is a lot more reserved and prepared to handle the expectations without getting caught up in the numbers like last season, according to Watson.
In addition to the changed vibe of the team, a big factor in ASU’s success this season will fall onto sophomore outside hitter BreElle Bailey. Bailey showed flashes of promise last season, finishing second on the team in kills with 357, but now Watson will look to the 6’4” hitter for more consistency this season.
“We’ve challenged her a little bit. More than likely, she’s going to play all the way around, so she’s going to play all (six positions),” Watson said. “She’s going to serve and she’s going to have to play defense, and those are areas that I don’t think you normally associate with somebody that is as tall as Bree is, and it’s kind of remarkable that we’re having that conversation given that she was a middle in high school.”
A big part of her improvement, according to her teammates, has to do with her role on the ASU sand volleyball team, which forced her to become a much more well-rounded player than she was previously required to be. ASU rostered a sand volleyball team for the first time last spring.
“I think of all the players that played in the sand, (Bailey) grew the most out of all of us, simply because she’s tall,” Gardner said. “Sand is not something she had envisioned in her mind, and then she came out, she played, she learned a lot of different skills, and she’s coming out, she’s playing tough in the back row.”
The sand season has proved beneficial to the team as a whole. The benefits reached beyond the physical rewards and into more of the higher-level thinking of the game of volleyball.
“Our eye-work has improved immensely to where we can kind of see shots easier, we can defend balls, our passing has improved, and it just allows us to see a different part of the game that we didn’t see beforehand when we were just playing solely indoors,” Gardner said.
Now, as the team heads to Hawaii for their first action of the season, all the anticipation and questions will begin to be answered. ASU will be participating in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational, Aug. 29-31, and play three games against San Diego State, the University of Ohio and host, No. 17 Hawaii.
“In the absence of Stephanie Preach, in the absence of (Jenny) Teslevich and those that have been in these situations, that we look to our core – Bianca, Whitney and Macey – to just give really good direction, and to do it in an environment that’s different than this environment,” Watson said. “Playing in Hawaii an environment that is iconic in the sport of volleyball, so I’d like to see us be really really good at that. I think that’ll go a long way.”
With this being the first real action for ASU, Watson will be looking for specific trends to begin the season, and other things to be revealed as the season plays out. Their schedule currently has five opponents with spots in the AVCA preseason poll, including fellow Pac-12 schools Stanford, Washington, and USC who are ranked No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 respectively.
“It’s going to be fascinating to see how this team develops,” Watson said.
ASU’s first match will be on August 29 against San Diego State at 8 p.m. PT.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com.
