After an uninspiring loss to Stanford, the ASU volleyball team pulled off a come-from-behind victory over California on Friday night, 27-30, 21-30, 30-27, 30-26, 15-10.
The Sun Devils dropped the first two games to the Golden Bears at Wells Fargo Arena, and it seemed as if they were on their way to another loss. But ASU came back from intermission with a combined resolve to win.
"As players and coaches, we were just like, 'Enough is Enough,'" Sun Devil assistant Christine Garner said. "We didn't play well in Washington, we didn't play well in a TV match against Stanford and the girls just got tired of it and just started to play."
An inspirational speech from ASU head coach Patti Snyder-Park helped nudge the team in the right direction. However, it was a position change that sparked the Sun Devils to victory.
ASU freshman outside hitter Sarah Watkins tallied six kills in her second appearance of the season. Sun Devil coaches made the switch in an effort to get more production from the outside hitter position.
"We basically needed something a little higher above the net than (junior libero Courtney Blocher) was getting," Garner said. "Courtney wasn't getting the kills we needed, so we figured, 'What the heck, we'll give Sarah a chance.' She far exceeded our expectations."
California (11-4, 2-4 Pac-10) was led by sophomore outside hitter Mia Jerkov and senior outside hitter Leah Young. The pair combined for 52 kills and provided a majority of California's offense. Junior middle blocker Jodi Smith and senior middle blocker Julia Leddy had eight blocks apiece.
ASU (8-4, 4-3) relied on superb play from sophomore opposite hitter Alicia Akporiaye to mark a season-high 20.5 team blocks. Akporiaye had eight of them.
"Alicia made the difference and just took over on the net, which was nice to see," Garner said. "(Blocking) won't win a game, but there's no better feeling than roofing someone."
Reach the reporter at cameron.eickmeyer@asu.edu.
