After beginning the season 15-0, ASU saw its title hopes slip precipitately and fell in a 3-0 sweep against No. 19 Florida State in the first round of the NCAA tournament (13-25, 17-25, 21-25).
Head coach Jason Watson looked back at the season with a positive eye.
"We've absorbed an enormous amount of adversity this year with some injuries to some key athletes," he said. "To get here speaks volumes to our athletes and their commitment."
FSU's net defense was the deciding factor against the Sun Devils.
In the first set, ASU could hardly get a ball over the net without it being deflected. Florida State had six total blocks in the first set, helping to limit ASU to eight kills. The Sun Devils had a .000 hitting percentage on 40 attempts in the set.
From the first play, it was obvious that FSU net defense was impressive. Junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell was blocked by redshirt junior middle blocker Sarah Burrington and redshirt senior middle blocker Mercedes Vaughn to give FSU the first point. Three plays later, Pickrell was blocked again by the same duo.
They had four blocks together in the first, and both finished the second set with five block assists.
On Tuesday, Watson said that passing had to be strong out of the back row to help combat the blocking. The defense has been led by sophomore libero Halle Harker, who finished the match with 12 digs. However, she was the only ASU player to have double-digits. As a team, the Sun Devils had 37; FSU had 55.
ASU lost the first set 25-13, and fell behind 23-13 in the second before going on a late run led by freshman outside hitter Lexi MacLean, who had three kills in four points.
At the end of the set, she was one of two ASU players to have more kills than errors. She had seven kills and one error, hitting .286; at the time, Pickrell and junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey combined for nine kills and eleven errors.
Check out photos from ASU volleyball's win over Stanford here:
FSU hitting, on the other hand, was incredibly efficient. The team was hitting at least .500 for more than half the set, and only had one attacking error when leading 17-9. It finished the set with 14 kills and three errors on a .367 hitting percentage.
The Sun Devils grabbed their first lead of the match on the first point of the third set and fought strong, jumping to a 10-6 lead behind three kills from Bailey.
Senior outside hitter Nicole Walch tied the game at 14 with her sixth kill of the set. She had 16 in the match, hitting .400 overall.
The teams fought, and with the score tied at 19, Burrington reminded ASU of her blocking capabilities that ranks her third in the ACC with 1.4 per set.
She and Vaughn blocked Follette to take a 20-19 lead. It began a 3-0 FSU run, but ASU cut the deficit to 22-21 before a timeout was called.
MacLean hit an error.
Burrington and Walch blocked Follette on consecutive plays to end the match and end ASU's season.
"It's disappointing of course, we don't like losing, but I feel like we're trending in the right direction," Watson said. "I'm incredibly proud of our athletes."
Related Links:
ASU volleyball to take on FSU in first round of NCAA tournament
ASU volleyball to compete in NCAA tournament for fourth consecutive year
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