For the first time all season, ASU volleyball was not ranked.
Whether it was due to not practicing on Monday, not spending enough time working on what they studied on film, or just not playing well, the Sun Devils looked like an unranked team in a 3-0 loss to Oregon (17-25, 21-25, 15-25).
The Sun Devils' passing struggled. ASU players were forced to dive and reach for the ball consistently, but not necessarily because of great Oregon hits; the digs just weren’t accurate.
The Ducks hit an incredible .394 in the match: for reference, ASU opponents have an average hitting percentage of .171. The lowest percentage in the Pac-12 is Oregon State, with .255.
Oregon’s hitting percentage in set one: .343
The Ducks nearly doubled the Sun Devils’ output to begin the game, taking a 15-8 lead.
Senior outside hitter Martenne Bettendorf had two kills and a block in that time frame; she was just getting started.
ASU cut the deficit to 18-16 before Oregon finished the match on a 7-1 run. The only ASU point in that run: a setter attack by senior Bianca Arellano.
Bettendorf finished with three kills in the set.
Set two: .447
Set two was a battle between Bettendorf and ASU junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell.
Bettendorf had eight kills and Pickrell had six.
Despite the fight, Oregon took a small lead early and never relinquished it. Bettendorf had four kills in a 6-4 run midway through the set Pickrell had three.
Oregon went ahead 18-14.
Bettendorf finished the set with a kill, winning 25-21. She was hitting .556.
ASU had 15 kills and hit .353; Oregon had 21.
Set three: .387
Suddenly, Bettendorf’s impact ended. She only had four more attempts in the set, none of which resulted in a kill.
Freshman outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide picked up the slack. She came out with four kills and an ace to give Oregon an 11-4 lead. ASU could do nothing to stop her; she got high lift off the ground and her angles could get over senior middle blocker Whitney Follette.
Vander Weide finished the set with six kills, doubling her total kill count in the match.
ASU junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey was blocked by an Oregon defense that left no room at the net. She attempted to compensate on one of the following rallies, but went too high and hit an error over the baseline. She finished with nine kills and five errors, hitting .138 in the match.
Follette had six kills and hit .357.
Pickrell was the only ASU player with double-digit kills. Oregon had three players, each of which hit above .350.
ASU lives by the block, but it was ineffective against the Ducks. The Sun Devils had four in the match, none of which came in the final set.
The lost 25-15, losing the match in three.
ASU remains at 19 wins. The Sun Devils are 4-5 in its last nine matches with one remaining at Arizona on Friday.
Players and coaches were unavailable for comment after the match.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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