Senior setter Shannan McCready serves the ball against Colorado State University on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. Colorado State beat the Sun Devils 3-2. (Photo by Ben Moffat)ASU coach Jason Watson said that Pac-12 conference play was "the real world" in the press conference following his squad's sweep of Pepperdine at Wells Fargo Arena.
After a streaky, up-and-down game against rival UA, Watson and Co. discovered how cruel the world of Pac-12 road games can be, falling in five sets to the Wildcats (12-1, 1-0 Pac-12) after streaking out to a 10-3 lead to open the first set.
One of the biggest concerns was opening up the league schedule on the road against a formidable Wildcat squad that came into Wednesday night's match undefeated at the McKale Center, an impressive 18-0 against the Sun Devils (10-3, 0-1 Pac-12).
But it appeared that No. 19 ASU came out firing and focused, alleviating any previous concerns of fatigue Watson had on Saturday.
On the other hand, veteran UA head coach Dave Rubio wasn't pleased with his team's lackadaisical effort in the first two sets.
"We weren't handling the routine plays very well and we backed down quickly," Rubio said. "We were pressing a little bit for sure."
Conversely, after coming out with a full head of steam, ASU allowed the home crowd to get into the game after UA went on a run in the second set that swung the result in their favor. A huge spike by Jacobsen ignited that run, as the Wildcats erased a three-point deficit and wouldn't look back, cruising to a 25-22 win.
"We were clean up until that last point," Watson said. "When you get to 21, you've got to be a whole lot cleaner if you want to close it out."
Junior outside hitter Macey Gardner led all players with 30 kills (a match and career high), also posting 15 digs and two blocks. In addition to being a statistical juggernaut, she would later inspire a comeback when ASU's chances looked as bleak as they'd felt in a tight fourth set.
Bianca Arellano distributed the ball frequently to compliment ASU's prolific front-row offensive attack, as the junior setter racked up 61 assists, also a game-high.
For every exertion and forceful play Gardner would create, it seemed that UA superstar and senior outside hitter Madi Kingdon would counter with a block or a kill of her own. Watson was wary of finding an answer, and it appeared that answer was simple — more Gardner.
The six-foot outside hitter continued to move closer to the front row, and dominated nearly every opportunity she had, even getting the better of her UA counterpart with an attack error. Of the nine kills Gardner recorded in the fourth set alone, four came consecutively, not including one that gave ASU a 27-25 edge to force a decisive fifth set.
UA's hitters continued to strike junior middle blocker Mercedes Binns, whose attack errors proved even more critical in the shorter fifth set.
While the final set was numerically as close and intense as the previous four, it magnified even the slightest mistakes.
After fighting through multiple ties and lead changes, a service error by sophomore libero Mia Mazon gave UA momentum with the score 12-11.
Even the surgically precise Gardner proved she was indeed human and fallible, with an attack error to give UA a 14-13 edge from which the Wildcats were able to wrap up the win and preserve its unblemished record against ASU at home.
ASU continues with its next leg of its Pac-12 road trip, when it heads to Los Angeles, California to take on the USC Trojans on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. , available on the Pac-12 Networks.
Reach the assistant sports editor at smodrich@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @StefanJModrich
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