Junior middle blocker Whitney Follete spikes in the fourth set during the match vs Washington State on Sunday, Oct. 19th, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils would rally from two sets down to beat the Cougars 3-2. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)No. 19 ASU volleyball has made its way through the Pac-12 once this season. Starting on Friday, nine of ASU’s final 10 matches will come against teams they’ve already played this year.
ASU will be able to use this knowledge of its opponents’ play to its benefit. Unfortunately, the opponent can do the same.
“These teams have also played us, so it’s kind of that double-edged sword where we’ve played them, they’ve played us, they know who we are, we know who they are,” said junior outside hitter Macey Gardner. “Even though we’ve played them before it’s different.”
ASU starts against Utah. The Sun Devils fell 3-1 to the Utes Oct. 5 in large part due to Utah’s defensive presence and blocks. The Utes had 14 total as a team and ASU couldn’t pull out the victory.
The Sun Devils came close though, losing the final two sets 24-26 and 23-25.
ASU coach Jason Watson pointed out that this match came on the heels of three previous consecutive road matches, which likely affected the play of his squad. He said they need to play better defensively on Friday, though.
“We need to be better defensively,” he said. “I feel like we’ve been talking about this defensive identity and I feel like we’re getting there.”
He mentioned that the team isn’t getting as many kills and scoring as many offensive points as they had been and picking up that output will be crucial against Utah and the following opponent, Colorado.
The Buffaloes are unranked, but they had the most votes out of the unranked teams. They pose a challenge as they took ASU to five sets after dropping the first two and ASU squeaked by with a 15-13 set five victory.
ASU’s wins that day were close: 25-23 in both of the first sets. The next two were heavily in Colorado’s favor: 18-25 and 15-25, respectively.
Gardner and sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey combined for 37 kills and 35 digs. Junior setter Bianca Arellano had 55 assists.
“I think (Colorado’s) playing really well right now,” Watson said. “Offensively, they’re a lot better than they were.”
Colorado only has two home losses this season: against ASU and No. 1 Stanford, both of which Colorado took to five sets before losing.
ASU will have its work cut out for them against these unranked squads, but the return of junior middle blocker Whitney Follette should help. She was injured during the first meeting between the schools.
“You look at our block numbers and they’ve gone up,” Watson said. “She’s a big factor.”
He didn’t say the team lost because of her absence, though, and credited junior middle blocker Andi Lowrance for playing stellar matches in Follette’s place. When asked if her absence hurt the team, Watson hesitated.
“To answer ‘yes’ would be to say that Andi didn’t do a good job, but Andi did do a great job, and I don’t think that’s that one factor that was the difference between the outcome of those matches last time,” he said.
Lowrance did play well, but Follette's return will be one more factor that could help ASU to a win. Follette is more aggressive on offense, more comfortable calling for the ball and hits at a high percentage. Additionally, she is a bit better at altering the shot of opponents.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
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