Junior middle blocker Mercedes Binns hits the ball in the fourth set of a home game against Oregon at the Wells Fargo Arena on Nov. 11, 2014. The Sun Devils won the fourth set 26-24, but lost in five sets to the Ducks. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)A tension-filled, emotional night for No. 19 ASU ended in a five-set loss to No. 10 Oregon (25-21, 32-30, 24-26, 26-24, 13-15).
“I thought we played well enough to win,” ASU coach Jason Watson said. “Certainly, it was an entertaining game for lots of reasons but I feel for our kids.”
It was entertaining in terms of the back-and-forth play from each team coming from long rallies and digs. The teams combined for 204 digs.
Freshman libero Halle Harker had 34 digs, breaking the ASU freshman dig record. The previous record? 33, set by Harker on Thursday night.
“The staff has really got on me on taking more of the court and being more of a libero and not just a defensive player,” she said.
As a libero, she takes a larger leadership role and focuses on patrolling the entire back.
Junior middle blocker Whitney Follette attempts to block a hit by Oregon’s freshman outside hitter Frankie Shebby in the second set at the Wells Fargo Arena on Nov. 11, 2014. The Sun Devils lost to the Ducks in five sets. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)Watson compared her to ASU alumna Sydney Donahue, who holds the Pac-12 digging record, and alumna Stephanie Preach, who Watson said would have broken Donahue's record if she played more than three rotations in her freshman year.
“I’m pretty proud of (Harker) and I’m pretty proud of this continued legacy that we have of really nice liberos,” he said. “While she may not be as emotional as our past liberos she’s every bit as good.”
The match was entertaining in terms of the officiating. There were quite a few controversial calls going both ways that got the crowd on its feet riled up and players to the judge chair pleading their case.
Harker said it was tough to fight through as competitors, but junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey said it often amped up the team.
“I think we feed off of that a little bit, I think that gives us energy and that makes us want to maybe work a little harder or fight even harder for the next point,” she said.
The final controversial call resulted in the loudest uproar from a fandom of a lowly 1,346 people that sounded like 4,000. Down 11-10 in the fifth set, an Oregon player hit a ball that appeared to sail a few inches over the baseline. The official ruled that it was tipped by an ASU defender on the way out. It came two plays after another similar call.
Sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey hits the ball during the fourth set of at the Wells Fargo Arena on Nov. 11, 2014. The Sun Devils won the fourth set 26-24, but lost in five sets to the Ducks. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)Junior outside hitter Macey Gardner immediately came back with a powerful kill and junior middle blocker Whitney Follette had a block to tie the score at 12.
That was one of Gardner’s 28 kills on the night. She had 89 attempts. 61 of them came in the first three sets.
In the fourth set, junior setter Bianca Arellano began hitting it her way less, often relying on sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey (46 attempts), but Gardner said she wasn’t worried about hurting her arm with all the swings.
“I think I’m more afraid of hurting someone else,” she said, laughing. “It’s come this far, so my trusty little shoulder, it’s still intact.”
The game came down to the quick offense Oregon ran. One of their more successful attacks came from passes from a setter that looked to be heading toward a middle or outside hitter, but a different player (often junior outside hitter Martenne Bettendorf) would dart in from the back row and take the hit herself.
BreElle Bailey said the film sessions helped the team gain a solid understanding of how to defend the Oregon offense.
“They run a really fast offense and they spread their offense really well,” she said. “We had a lot of blocks tonight, a lot of good touches… I think we were as dialed in as we could be on that offense.”
Oregon watches as the ball was shanked out of bounds in the first set a home game against Oregon at the Wells Fargo Arena on Nov. 11, 2014. The Sun Devils won the first set 25-21, but lost to the Ducks in five sets. (Photo by Daniel Kwon)Betterndorf finished with 18 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Kacey Nady had 14 kills on just 27 attempts.
Both teams struggled with serving the ball. Oregon had 12 serve errors, many in crucial situations, but ASU wasn’t much better: the team had 10 serve errors.
Watson’s been experimenting with the lineup, particularly in the rotation that Follette serves in. She had a serve early in the first set but hit an error on it, and she was subbed out when her turn came along for the rest of the match.
He first went to junior libero Mia Mazon, but in her second time around, she hit a serve error and was replaced. Redshirt freshman Genevieve Pirotte got some looks but made two errors, one of them late in the fifth set, and senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns had a rare appearance on the serve.
Arellano had three errors, and late in the match switched from her jump serve to a more accurate but less powerful standing serve late in the match.
Watson said that while he’s looking for a consistent serve, he also needs to keep defensive presence in mind.
“The decisions are not always predicated on the serve, it’s the serve and the ability to play defense behind that serve tonight,” he said. “We made subs for the defensive purpose.”
BreElle Bailey was strong on defense, with 3.5 blocks, but she also looked more like her pre-conference play self on offense, coming up with huge kills in clutch moments, such as the set-clinching hit in game four.
“It’s been a little bit of a rough season for me but I feel like my confidence is coming back and I’m a little more sure of my swing,” she said.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
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