Home-court advantage was not enough to overcome two opponents ranked in the top five in the nation, as the ASU volleyball team fell to No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 USC this weekend.
The Sun Devils (9-7, 1-4) pushed the Women of Troy (17-0, 6-0) to the limit but lost three games to two Friday. They were then swept 3-0 by the Bruins (19-0, 6-0) Saturday.
Despite the losses, coach Brad Saindon said he was happy with the progress his team showed in playing the two Pac-10 leaders.
"It sure would have been nice to win that match [against USC]," he said. "We had a chance to win, but I think we're better this week than we were last week. I think we're getting better."
In the weekend's first match, the Women of Troy jumped out early in the first game to a 13-9 lead. But the Sun Devils went on an 8-1 run from that point and never looked back as they stole the opener 30-25.
USC responded in strong fashion, never trailing in the second game on the way to a 30-22 win that evened the match. It then won the third game 30-25.
Down 11-10 in the fourth, ASU took command with a 13-5 run that put it ahead 23-16. The Sun Devils won the game 30-25 and pushed the match to a deciding fifth game.
Momentum in the final game went back and forth, as neither team ever led by more than two points.
Finally, with the score tied at 13, USC found a way to win consecutive points, taking the game 15-13 and handing the Sun Devils their third five-game loss this season.
"It can't be enough for us anymore to go four or five games with USC or anybody else," Saindon said. "Somehow, at some point, we just have to pull one of these matches off so that they actually have concrete evidence that they can win a match like that."
Senior outside hitters Nina Reeves and Nicole Morton each turned in double-doubles in the loss. Reeves had 18 kills and 17 digs while Morton finished with 17 kills and 14 digs.
"For the last couple weeks, I've been having a hard time," Reeves said after the USC match. "My coaches tell me, 'You need to play like a senior, you need to step up.' I think tonight I just put everything aside and said, 'I need to get the job done.'"
The Sun Devils also got big games from junior middle blockers Staci Smith and Collette Meek, as Smith had a season-high 18 kills and Meek had 8 kills with no attack errors.
"Staci had a great night," Saindon said. "Collette's kills weren't as spectacular, but she had a great night too.
"That's one of the weaknesses of the way [USC] blocks, is that our middle is open. They were one-on-one in the middle, so I thought we could kill balls there."
Freshman setter Marina Mercer had a season-best 56 assists, while junior libero Sydney Donahue added 24 digs.
The Bruins prevented ASU from getting in position for an upset the next night, as they never trailed in the first two games on their way to 30-21 and 30-26 wins.
The Sun Devils played their best game in the third, leading by as many as seven points at 19-12. However, UCLA chipped away at the deficit and used a late 5-0 run to seal the match with a 30-28 win.
The Bruins hit .353 in the match with just 12 attack errors compared to ASU's .152 hitting percentage.
"I thought we played well, but UCLA is really good," Saindon said. "They may win a national championship. They just don't give teams anything. They don't give points away, and it builds up over time. That's the best team we've seen this year."
Reeves and sophomore outside hitter Margie Giordano had 12 kills each to lead ASU, while Donahue had 15 digs to run her season total to 386.
Reach the reporter at Matthew.Storey@asu.edu
