Sophomore outside hitter BreElle Bailey and junior middle blocker Whitney Follette go up for a block during the second set of the game against Colorado on November 2nd, 2014. The Sun Devils' late comeback attempt came up short vs the Buffs as they lost 3-2. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)“We have one day to get ready for Stanford,” No. 20 ASU volleyball head coach Jason Watson said Sunday.
He then sarcastically added, “The reassuring thing is it’s at their place so I’m sure that makes it easier.”
That one day of practice to prepare for the No. 1 school in the nation came on Monday, one day after going five sets against Colorado. The team traveled on Tuesday and will spend time getting acquainted to the Stanford court. Fatigue plays a role in every match this late in the season, and Watson has spoken about the importance of getting rest.
The rest seems to be especially important for junior middle blocker Whitney Follette. She recently returned from appendicitis surgery and is still fighting to work out the kinks and get back to full capacity.
On Friday night, she had 16 kills with only four errors. On Sunday she struggled, with one kill and four errors on nine attempts in the first two sets before returning for a brief period late in set five.
“It’s really, really hard for Whit right now to play emotionally and physically back to back and she’s going to get there … but I do think she’s still trying to come back,” Watson said on Sunday.
Stanford, being the home team, has an extra day to prepare for the match. The Cardinal can delve into what ASU did so well in the first set last time the two teams played, and perfect what it did to come back and win the next three.
In that Oct. 12 match, ASU made only one serving error and simply played with more energy. In set two, ASU began struggling to get good passes out of its digs and lost long points.
A key attack Stanford used to come back was the tip hit. The ASU back row was unable to adjust and react quickly enough, in part due to the absence of senior setter Shannan McCready, who was out with a concussion.
She’s back and ASU has shown great improvement defending the soft hits over the last few weeks. The serving battle will play a crucial role.
Follette has recently served, but though she scores points in practice, she has been largely unsuccessful during the matches. On Friday, she was subbed out of the rotation when she went to serve. Watson is looking for the right replacement.
“Whit couldn’t do it,” he said after the match. “Mia couldn’t do it; Genevieve couldn’t do it, so we’re kind of running out of people.”
Sophomore libero Mia Mazon played in just one set over the weekend, getting a service error. Redshirt freshman libero Genevieve Pirotte played in only three.
Junior setter Bianca Arellano’s high jump serve looked better over the weekend. Against Utah on Friday, she had three aces and one error. On Sunday, she had no serving errors.
She has previously said that she feels confident with the serve in practice, but thinks too much during the game instead of just doing it. If she can continue to go through the motions of her routine without pressing, it’ll be heaven-sent: Arellano leads the team with 50 errors. She also leads the team in aces, with 25.
ASU plays Cal on Friday and, simply put, it’s a must-win. Cal is the lowest-ranked Pac-12 team in the RPI standings (100) and has yet to win a conference match. Against ASU on Oct. 10, the Bears lost 3-1.
ASU will need to figure out a way to control Cal’s senior outside hitter Christina Higgins. In the October match, she had 18 kills, seven of which came in the first set. Watson eventually switched the rotation to have sophomore outside hitter BreElle Bailey defend her instead of Arellano.
However, Bailey is no longer providing the offensive output the team grew accustomed to early in the season. She has 23 kills and 30 errors since the last Cal match.
Freshman setter Madison McDaniel has defended well in Bailey's stead, but Watson seemed emphatic that Bailey wouldn’t be completely taken out of the lineup after Sunday’s match due to the low offensive output of McDaniel and the chemistry of the team.
“We need some offensive productivity out of the right that we haven’t got,” Watson said. “While (McDaniel) came in and did some nice things for us, she didn’t provide the offensive output that we need.”
McDaniel, who is a natural setter but was moved to the outside hitter position, had three kills and three errors.
Watson may have to mess with the lineup, which if he does something “dramatic,” he said, will affect “lots of people.”
Junior outside hitter Macey Gardner currently averages about 4.13 kills per set. It’s hard to ask her for more, but she’s a constant offensive threat. Sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey has 204 kills this season and the middles are becoming more active in the offense.
If Watson can transform the offense to rely more heavily on those four attackers, he may be able to keep McDaniel in for her strong defensive presence.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
