No. 11 UCLA ended up upsetting ASU No. 24 in a five-set comeback win on Sun Devil senior night.
“They ended up still taking it in the end and we weren’t able to defend some tendencies that we worked on,” senior setter Bianca Arellano said.
Stumped by UCLA's excellent defense, ASU didn’t get its first kill until it was already trailing 18-10 in the first set.
A hit from senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns skimmed a net player’s finger tips and the ASU band’s drummer began the beat that signified an ASU kill.
Somehow, from a sea of UCLA blue, the ball was dug before it hit the ground.
Later, an ASU hit the ball over the net. A player got her fingers on it, though the ball appeared as if it was going to fall for a kill.
UCLA junior libero Taylor Formico stuck out her foot. It connected with the ball, which sailed over the net.
Despite trailing 18-10 without a kill, ASU hung in the set. UCLA had five attack errors and four service errors.
Freshman setter Lexi MacLean got her first big kill of the match, putting ASU in the box score.
ASU got on a run to cut the deficit to 23-21, but junior middle blocker Jennie Frager got a quick pass in the middle of the net. She got a kill.
UCLA limped away with a 25-22 victory. Junior outside hitter Jordan Anderson had seven kills, as many as ASU did in the set. She finished the match with 24.
Junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell, Anderson’s teammate on a club team in Texas, said the UCLA hitter is powerful and plays smart.
“She has shots and she raises a block well and she’s always been super aggressive,” Pickrell said.
ASU fell behind 13-17 in set two, but MacLean once again got the Sun Devils going. She hit consecutive kills.
Bailey and Binns combined for a pair of block assists, helping to push ASU on an 8-0 run. The Sun Devils won the set.
ASU continued playing well in set three. It discovered how to contain Frager.
After getting four kills and no errors on five attempts in the first set, she had two kills and seven errors on 19 attempts in the remaining four sets.
“We put some pressure on her with not just one blocker but with two,” Watson said.
Additionally, ASU began containing junior middle blocker Claire Felix’ slide attack.
“We got a better feel for what they were going to run and what kind of set they were going to push to the slide,” Pickrell said.
The Sun Devils won 25-19. UCLA had just nine kills, hitting .000 in the set.
ASU took a 2-1 lead and looked to be in position to win. The Sun Devils took 22-18 lead in set four.
UCLA scored five of the next six points.
Felix had the final two kills for UCLA in the set and the Bruins came back to win 28-26.
“We got lit up for seven receiving errors,” Watson said. “Our passing did not give us opportunities to go and win.
“In game five, we had no opportunities due to our passing.”
ASU ran out of fuel in the final set. Arellano said the team hasn’t had much experience in going five sets.
“It’s all about endurance at this point,” she said. “We have to be the team that’s able to play longer, and tonight we didn’t do that.”
ASU had 172 attempts in the match.
Its 21 blocks is tied for the second-most all-time for ASU. Binns had 10 of them and Bailey contributed seven.
“We’re blocking some balls, which is nice,” Watson said. “Turns out, you gotta be able to kill a couple balls too.”
ASU failed to win its 20th match of the season.
“Once again, we find ourselves as this bubble team for the NCAA tournament and the margins are extremely thin,” Watson said. “Tonight, we were plugging away and we had a couple of plays in game four to close it out and we couldn’t do it and we see ourselves with a lost opportunity against a ranked team.”
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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