Middle blocker junior Mercedes Binns makes a kill against Iowa on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils swept the Hawkeyes, 3-0. (Photo by Ben Moffat)ASU coach Jason Watson tends to downplay aspects of volleyball that he doesn’t think directly correlate to a match.
He gives little weight to momentum or scoring runs, and as No. 17 ASU prepares to play Colorado and Utah, Watson has downplayed the importance of NCAA rankings.
“I don’t know what rankings mean,” he said. “I don’t know how they work. I don’t vote on those things. All I know is that in this conference, if they’re ranked or not is irrelevant. They’re really, really talented.”
He isn’t wrong about that. Pac-12 teams tend to play stellar volleyball.
The team with the worst record in the conference is No. 19 USC, which was a top 10 team in the nation just a week ago. The Trojans are 7-5.
ASU will face two unranked opponents this weekend, Colorado (9-5-0) and Utah (10-3-0).
Watson has “dialed in” on the Colorado team and said they look good in almost all aspects of the game.
“They’re passing the ball really well,” he said. "They’re creating some defensive opportunities for themselves and they’ve got some hitters who can go hit it.”
He also said he is impressed with Colorado's 6-2 formation, a game plan in which two setters are on the court at the same time. Junior setter Nicole Edelman has 266 assists in 34 sets and freshman setter Gabby Simpson has 306 assists in 54 sets.
This helps Colorado play with a fast tempo on offense.
“It’s going to be again how well can our defense handle what their offense is giving them and can we be clean in return,” Watson said.
ASU will see Colorado on Friday. Two days later, the Sun Devils take on Utah.
Watson said the Utes block a lot of kills, which is a different style than Colorado. He listed a few ways to help the hitters get around the Utah defenders.
“Part of it is keeping your hitters in tempo, keeping them in rhythm, keeping them off the net,” Watson said.
He also employed this strategy against the physically sound USC team, and it led to positive results.
The team has worked on defense this week, junior outside hitter Macey Gardner said.
“We’re just working on defense and just creating a mindset of being intense all the time,” she said. “We need to be able to pick up balls more often, see the hitter.”
She also said it was important to step up on long rallies, extending them when necessary and being able to get the point.
Watson’s been emphasizing a defensive identity as well.
“We’re digging more balls, we’re being really aggressive, we’re not just making one move, we’re making two moves at the ball,” he said.
He admitted that the team isn’t where he wants them to be, but the effort his players are putting in is a great first step.
“If we keep making some good effort, then in two weeks, we’re going to see a much better defensive team,” he said.
Part of the defense will have to come from junior middle blocker Andi Lowrance. Watson inserted her into the starting lineup to replace the injured junior middle blocker Whitney Follette over the weekend. Lowrance played well, assisting on six blocks against USC. On offense, she accumulated 13 kills and only two errors total over the weekend. She hit a team-high .462 against USC.
She said the high hitting percentage comes from communication.
“I talk with (setter) Bianca (Arellano) a lot about the sets that I like versus the ones I think could be better or if I’m the one timing it wrong,” Lowrance said.
She came into the season as an outside hitter and is in the process of reverting back to her natural position of middle blocker. Two things are proving to be difficult to re-accustom herself to.
“The tempo of the sets from the middle (is) a lot different than the outside so just getting back into doing that tempo,” she said. “Blocking is a lot different, because you actually have to go both ways.”
When asked if Lowrance has secured her spot as a starter, Watson gave a surprisingly definitive answer.
“She has.”
2014 season in photos
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