ASU volleyball is headed to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season — the Sun Devils arrived in Gainesville, Florida earlier today and will be at Florida State on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
“I feel like we’re enthused again,” head coach Jason Watson said. “We were grinding through those last couple weeks of practice, trying to reach the tournament. … Now that we’ve reached that goal, I feel like there’s been this realization that it’s a new season.”
Senior middle blocker Whitney Follette said the team can go into the tournament fresh, and everyone has a 0-0 record. She called it “refreshing” to know that any team could succeed.
“Everyone has a chance to go win the national title,” she said.
FSU had success during the regular season, going 24-7 and tying for second in the ACC. It started the season 3-3 but rattled off a streak of 14 wins in 15 contests.
Despite this, it dropped in the rankings. After beginning the season ranked No. 9 overall, it finished at No. 22.
A large part of this is due to FSU’s record against ranked teams. It only played against four: No. 24 Colorado, No. 22 Ohio State, No. 5 Florida and No. 22 Louisville.
Check out pictures from ASU volleyball's win over Stanford
Senior setter Bianca Arellano said that doesn’t matter to ASU.
“That doesn’t really phase us,” she said. “They’re in a challenging conference just like us.”
A large part of their success comes from senior outside hitter Nicole Walch.
Walch, who had a team-high of 424 kills during the season, became the first player in ACC history to win the Player of the Week award three times in a row.
She made the All-ACC First Team.
Like ASU, FSU's 6-2 offense contributes to its defense. FSU was very successful on the block. Two middle blockers had triple-digit blocks during the season: redshirt junior Sarah Burrington (136) and junior Melanie Keil (127).
Both rank in the top-5 in blocks-per-set in the ACC.
Watson said that to stop it, sophomore libero Halle Harker needs to pass well out of digs.
“If we’re in system and our setters are able to locate and get the ball to our hitters in tempo, then we can kind of negate that," he said.
Harker had a phenomenal second season, ending with 411 digs. Watson said that she was one of the better, non-flashy liberos in the conference.
ASU has strong blockers of its own. Senior middle blocker Whitney Follette had 138, and its next-highest, senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns, had 104.
Binns said the team needed to work more on transition play and has been practicing opening space for their pin hitters.
She practiced this week after getting an injury scare against Arizona in the final set of the regular season. She is expected to play in the middle in the tournament.
Follette will be moving back to the right side. She was put in the middle and freshman setter Kylie Pickrell played opposite hitter against Arizona, but on Tuesday, Follette said the team was practicing with her on the right again.
Pickrell will resume her spot as the secondary setter in the 6-2. Freshmen Lexi MacLean and Jasmine Koonts are expected to get similar playing time to what they’ve been receiving.
They’re new to the tournament. Watson said that despite the “what could’ve been” feeling if injuries hadn’t occurred and the original plan for the freshman had remained, this presents an opportunity for the future.
“For them to have to (step up) this year and still be able to get to the tournament and get some postseason experience, I think that bodes well for us down the road,” he said.
Related Links:
ASU volleyball to compete in NCAA tournament for fourth consecutive year
ASU volleyball loses to Arizona in regular season finale
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