SANTA MONICA, Calif. – At the beginning of the season, sand volleyball head coach Jason Watson said gaining experience on the sand was the main priority of the team, and the improvements showed at the Pac-12 Invitational in Santa Monica.
The Sun Devils didn't walk away with the ideal results, placing third, but they saw improvements from the initial matches against conference teams.
ASU went into the team tournament as the fourth seed, just above Cal, the lowest seed.
The Sun Devils kicked off the weekend with a team dual against Cal, defeating them 4-1. The Golden Bears went on to finish last in the Invitational. Juniors and No. 1 pair Bianca Arellano and Macey Gardner sealed the win with their 21-18, 21-18 match win over Sarah Cole and Emily Lunt.
Junior Andi Lowrance, who is normally paired up with freshman Frances Giedraitis, sprained her ankle recently and was not able to play in the tournament. Watson substituted redshirt freshman Kwyn Johnson in and they went 1-3 this weekend.
Defeating the Bears was bittersweet because that meant the undefeated, No. 1 USC Trojans was the next battle.
ASU started off much stronger against USC than they did a couple weeks ago at home, including an incredible performance from the No. 2 pair, senior Jordy Checkal and graduate student Bethany Jorgensen. This pair fell to USC a couple weeks ago in three matches and with strong communication were the only pair to defeat the Trojans 25-13, 21-17.
"I thought they were really solid," Watson said. "That was a big win for them and they've been working hard towards that so I'm really proud of them for doing that."
The Sun Devils went on to upset UCLA 3-2 with wins from the top three pairs. The score was tied 2-2 until junior Whitney Follette and freshman Halle Harker battled it out in a tough three sets, defeating Julie Consani and Laurel Weaver 22-20, 20-22, 15-11.
Upsetting the Bruins meant there was a desert dual between the Wildcats and Sun Devils. With a spot in the finals on the line, ASU fell to Arizona as the No. 3's and 4's were the only ones able to walk away with a win.
Checkal and Jorgensen almost went undefeated Saturday, but could not push past Arizona as Jorgensen started to cramp up at the beginning of the game.
The Sun Devils had to play back-to-back games against Arizona and UCLA and that played into their loss.
"We haven't played back-to-back and it was tough," Watson said. "But again, I thought we played them (Arizona) tougher than we did at our place not too long ago. It is what it is. Even though it wasn't the outcome we wanted, the effort was there."
Arizona went on to finish second, falling to USC in the finals.
ASU did not end Saturday as the team had hoped, but the improvements from the beginning of the season are visible.
"We keep working and keep getting a little better in the sand," Watson said. "So, I think today was overall a really good day for our team."
The Sun Devils went on to compete in the pairs tournament on Sunday with Arellano and Gardner making it the longest, falling in the quarterfinals.
ASU will finish up its season with another duel in the desert against Arizona on April 22 at 4:30 p.m.
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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