Junior outside hitter Macey Gardner attacks the ball in a home game against Pepperdine on Sept 20, 2014. (Photo by Mario Mendez)
Over the first dozen matches of the season, No. 17 ASU played teams around the nation, including Louisville, Pepperdine and Colorado State. In the span, the Sun Devils went 10-2.
From here on out, it’s Pac-12 play while the team tries to find a position in the NCAA tournament. ASU started in-conference play 1-1 with a loss against No. 18 UA on Wednesday and a victory over No. 9 USC on Friday.
ASU has 18 more matches to prove that they deserve a spot in the NCAA tournament. It resumes Pac-12 play on Friday against Colorado.
Colorado: Oct. 3, Nov. 2
Unranked Colorado is 9-5 on the year. It began conference play 1-1 by defeating Utah (3-2) and then falling to Oregon (3-1).
A player to watch for is senior outside hitter Taylor Simpson. Simpson has 246 kills on the year, more than 150 more than Colorado’s second-highest kill tally, and has 126 digs.
Utah: Oct. 5, Oct. 31
Utah is also unranked despite a 10-3 record on the year. The Utes began the season with 10 consecutive wins before losing the next three to BYU (0-3), Colorado (2-3) and Oregon State (2-3).
Statistically, Utah is more well-rounded in its passing game than ASU is. While the Utes had three players with 87 or more assists, ASU relies heavily on one player (junior Bianca Arellano, who has 554) while no other player has more than 24.
California: Oct. 10, Nov. 7
California is the final unranked team in the short stretch against lower-rated opponents. The Golden Bears are 8-4 and are coming off of losses against Stanford and Washington.
It is worth noting that while ASU has more aces than Cal (79-47), the Golden Bears are less error-prone, with only 64 on the season. The Sun Devils double that total with 128.
Stanford: Oct. 12, Nov. 5
No. 1 Stanford is 12-0 and has been consistently dominant throughout the last decade-plus. The Cardinal has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA championship for two years in a row, and lost in the second round the year before. After winning 19 matches in 2000, the team hasn’t won fewer than 20 since and has won at least 30 six times. In this span, Stanford has won two national championships and lost in the finals four times.
Part of what makes the team so successful is its ability to avoid errors on the court. Stanford's hitting percentage is .334 with 135 attacking errors while ASU hits at respectable .265 clip with 229 errors.
Washington: Oct. 17, Nov. 23
It doesn’t get easier the following week as ASU takes on No. 4 Washington. The team is 12-0 after defeating California in Pac-12 play and No. 5 Wisconsin the week before.
Washington’s attack percentage is extremely high, with a mark of .348. Junior middle blocker Melanie Wade, who has 66 kills, boasts a .468 percentage.
Senior outside hitter Krista Vansant is a player to watch for.
Vansant has 198 kills and a .365 attack percentage. Among ASU players with at least 75 attempts, none have higher than a .336 (junior middle blocker Whitney Follette).
Additionally, Vansant has made only nine receipt errors in 169 attempts. This is nearly identical to ASU junior outside hitter Macey Gardner (9 errors on 164 attempts).
Washington State: Oct. 19, Nov. 21
WSU started the season 9-3 before falling to Washington and Stanford. These are the only two ranked teams WSU has played this season.
The team leans on senior outside hitter Jaicee Harris. On Friday, Harris became the fourth Cougar player in WSU history to achieve the 1,000/1,000 club (1,000 kills and 1,000 digs). This season, she has 134 kills and 127 digs.
Oregon: Oct. 24, Nov. 15
No. 11 Oregon has found success balancing the use of two of its setters. Senior Shellsy Ashen has 251 assists and freshman Maggie Scott has 309.
Both of those players have been in all 45 sets so far this season, helping the Ducks to a perfect 12-0 start.
Oregon State: Oct. 25, Nov. 13
Oregon State, unranked, has an 11-2 record with their only losses coming against Oregon and formerly No. 25 Michigan State.
OSU’s lifeline is freshman outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall. She has 189 kills, 95 more than the player with the second most. She also makes very few errors: Marshall only has seven service errors and 11 receipt errors. She has 88 digs.
UCLA: Nov. 26
Senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe has become one of the conference's best players.
A walk-on in her freshman year, Lowe has become an All-American athlete and First Team All-Pac-12 member. She currently leads the nation in kills per set (6.49) — Gardner averages 4.02 kills per set.
ASU did play well against UA’s Madi Kingdon though, who is in the top-5 with 5.48 kills per set. Although she got 20 kills against ASU on Wednesday, it took her 76 tries to do so and she made 15 errors.
Arizona: Nov. 28
ASU finishes the regular season with its second match against UA.
The two teams faced each other in Tucson and despite a big effort from Gardner, the Sun Devil's comeback fell short.
2014 season in photos
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