FLAGSTAFF -- Blame it on the altitude. Blame it on the short week. Blame it on Monday's lackadaisical practice.
ASU head coach Brad Saindon said to blame it on him.
There were a myriad of reasons for the ASU volleyball team's emotionless performance Tuesday against NAU, but Saindon elected to shoulder the blame.
"For the first time in a long time, I'm really disappointed and somewhat embarrassed about my team, and that's a direct reflection on me," Saindon said. "We weren't focused at all. I just don't think in collegiate athletics these days you can go against any team and not be focused and ready to play, because this is exactly what happens."
Senior defensive specialist Stephanie Kohner deflected criticism from Saindon, claiming that Saindon wasn't responsible for the breakdowns in the Sun Devils 3-0 loss to the Lumberjacks.
"You have someone from the Big Sky Conference playing against the Pac-10, and they were out gunning for us," Kohner said. "They played amazing, and we just didn't prepare well."
The Sun Devils had won three of their last four matches before Tuesday, although junior outside hitter Sarah Watkins said that the team's past struggles still played a factor.
"When you're drilled by teams that are ranked over and over and over again, it's easy to overlook a team like that, and I think we did," said Watkins, who had eight of ASU's 22 hitting errors. "I don't feel that we ever came close to getting into a rhythm. We just didn't bring our game."
Saindon figured that his team would take NAU seriously, especially after it lost to the Lumberjacks in a spring exhibition match.
"We just chose to show up in our ASU uniforms, and we thought that was going to be enough to win this match against lowly NAU," Saindon said. "But that's not the case. NAU is a good team.
"I just don't think we showed NAU much respect, and I think that's pretty classless on our part."
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.
