No. 14 ASU couldn’t handle the stars of No. 7 Stanford as the Sun Devils were swept in its first Wednesday match of the season (17-25, 23-25, 9-25).
Freshman outside hitter Hayley Hodson was nearly unstoppable. She had a good and accurate angle to her attack, aiming the ball right in front of the back row player. She finished the match with 14 kills and four errors for a .345 hitting percentage.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Ivana Vanjak did even more damage to the Sun Devils on Wednesday than she did the first time they played this season. She had six kills and no errors on 10 attempts and had six blocks.
Late in the third set, she managed to beat senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns in a joust. It was the nail in the coffin.
ASU was unable to consistently extend rallies in the third set. Stanford killed seven of its first nine attempts, grabbing a 10-4 lead.
The difficulties didn’t stop. Stanford had the same amount of aces in the set as it did errors (two) and hit a whopping .484 with 17 kills. ASU, on the other hand, had seven kills and five errors.
Stanford scored 18 of the final 23 points.
It cemented a fact that has been visible throughout the season and obvious in the first two sets on Wednesday: when the Sun Devils can play long rallies, they’re successful. When they can’t get digs, they struggle.
Stanford grabbed big leads in the first two sets by hitting with great angles. At the beginning of both, the ASU back row was unable to do more than get a finger on the ball.
They would slam down right in front of the defender. With a 17-10 lead, the Cardinal was hitting .550 as a team.
The defense managed to adjust. It extended rallies to gain more attempts on offense.
Lead by junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey, ASU went on an 8-1 run. Bailey had four kills during the span.
Hodson ended the rally with a kill, setting up senior setter Madi Bugg to serve. It was a strong spot of Stanford in the first set, in which the team had six aces. Bugg accrued consecutive aces in Stanford’s final 7-point run, pushing the Cardinal to the finish line in the set one.
Set two was oddly similar to the first: Stanford grabbed a 17-10 lead before ASU could stem the tide and junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell could get going. The team cut the deficit to 20-18, and Pickrell had four kills in the set.
A Stanford dig pushed the set to the far right side. It went to Hodson, who had to hit it with her body aimed at the net at a 90 degree angle.
She pushed it right in front of the ASU defender, who was unable to get more than some fingers on the ball. Point Cardinal.
Stanford went ahead 24-20, and ASU once again cut the deficit. Bailey had two more kills and ASU trailed 24-23.
Stanford called a timeout and drew up a play for Hodson. She hit it between two Sun Devils in the back row.
Stanford went ahead 2-0 in the match. It won the third 25-9.
Bailey finished with 12 kills on a .292 hitting percentage. She and Binns (three kills, .250 hitting percentage) were the only two players on ASU to hit above .185.
ASU dropped to 17-5 (6-5 Pac-12) on the season.
Head coach Jason Watson was unavailable for comment after the match.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
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