Freshman outside hitter Whitney Follette elevates for a spike during the Sun Devils’ 3-0 win over California on Sept. 28. (Photo by Kyle Newman)Needing to win both games this weekend to feel comfortable about its chances at making the NCAA tournament, the ASU volleyball team only got one of the two victories.
The Sun Devils suffered a tough 3-1 loss Friday night to Utah at Wells Fargo Arena. On paper, it looked like it would be victory for ASU, as Utah (13-18, 4-14 Pac-12) had yet to notch a road win in conference play this season.
After the first set, it appeared as though the Sun Devils were en route for a victory. The team was hitting at a clip of .300, and freshman middle blocker Whitney Follette led the way with six kills and a .857 hitting percentage in a 25-21 victory.
Much didn’t change offensively for ASU in the second set, which hit even at a higher percentage of .333 for the frame. The Utah offense found rhythm in the set and hit at an exceptional .438, as they took the set 25-19.
The final two sets displayed a different Sun Devil team on the attack then was seen in the previous two sets.
In the third set, ASU was forced into 10 attacking errors with six of them coming in the final eight points for Utah. The Utes were able to roll to a 25-17 set victory, despite hitting at only a .162 percentage themselves.
Down two sets to none, the Sun Devils played with urgency in the fourth set and went on to a 20-17 lead. A well-timed Utah timeout led to three straight kills by the Utes to come back and tie the game at 20-20. From there, the Utes were able to work the score to 25-24 in their favor, before Utah’s 19th block of the night ended the set and match.
“It was a must-win match, for us, with aspirations of going to the tournament. Margins are thin and they just got thinner,” Coach Jason Watson said.
Follette finished the night with a season-high 16 kills in the loss to the Utes.
“It’s an important game that we lost,” Follette said. “We just needed to come out harder in the second, third and fourth set, and we didn’t and I guess our consequences were losing, and that’s unfortunate.”
Sun Devils bounce back against Colorado
ASU didn’t get off to a strong start against Colorado, dropping the first set 25-20. The Sun Devils hit into five Colorado blocks, while ASU converted its hits at only .111 for the set.
The second set went much better for the Sun Devils, as ASU converted 16 kills — six from sophomore outside hitter Nora Tuioti-Mariner — and forced Colorado into a .073 hitting percentage in a 25-19 win.
Using a 7-0 run to start the third set, the Sun Devils rolled through the Buffaloes 25-7, earning the largest margin of victory in a set this season.
Led by Tuioti-Mariner and her 18 kills, ASU finished off the Buffaloes 25-15 for a 3-1 match victory.
“I felt good about my performance tonight,” Tuioti-Mariner said. “I give the credit to (Allison Palmer) for spreading out the offense. She was just flicking the sets to the right side, so that really made a huge factor in this.”
Reach the reporter at talopez3@asu.edu
