The schedule just gets more difficult for the ASU volleyball team this weekend, as it goes on the road to face No. 5 UCLA today and No. 6 USC Saturday.
Despite losses to No. 2 Stanford and No. 11 California last week, the Sun Devils (11-11, 3-8) are still alive in their chase for an NCAA tournament bid. They need four wins in their final seven matches to be eligible for the postseason.
"We're still in the hunt," coach Brad Saindon said. "To be in the hunt in November in the Pac-10 is a big deal, so we're happy about that."
They will have to beat at least one of their remaining four ranked opponents to finish with a winning record, but Saindon said he feels the team is playing well now and has a shot to pull off an upset this weekend.
"We had a good week of practice," he said. "We played well against UCLA and USC here. I still think this team is capable of knocking one of these big teams off."
UCLA (22-2, 9-2) is tied for second in the Pac-10 with No. 4 Washington, just one game back of Stanford.
The Bruins began the season with 20 straight wins, including a 3-0 sweep of ASU on Oct. 7.
They have lost two of their last four, dropping a home match in five games to Stanford and then losing at Washington last week. But Saindon said the Bruins are still a legitimate national title contender.
Senior middle blocker Nana Meriwether has been one of UCLA's top players this year. She has won Pac-10 player of the week on two occasions, and she leads the conference with a .474 hitting percentage and 145 blocks.
Sophomore setter Nellie Spicer has been the catalyst for the Bruin offense with 1,114 assists this season, and she is second in the Pac-10 with 13.75 assists per game.
Like its cross-town rival, USC (19-3, 8-3) began the season on a long winning streak. The Women of Troy jumped out to a 17-0 start, but they have dropped three of their last five matches and fallen to fourth in the conference.
ASU pushed USC to five games when the teams met for the first time Oct. 6, but the Women of Troy won the deciding game 15-13.
Saindon said despite the disappointment of losing that match, it helped the team to gain some confidence in the long run.
"We played really well against a great team," he said. "We match up pretty well against them, and I'm anxious to play those guys again."
USC's offense has been led by junior outside hitter Asia Kaczor, who is first in the conference with 367 kills and second with 4.59 kills per game.
Saturday's match will also pit the Pac-10's top two liberos against one another in USC senior Debora Seilhamer and ASU junior Sydney Donahue.
Seilhamer's 696 digs last season led the Pac-10, with Donahue second at 628. They are again atop the conference this year, but Donahue leads
with 529 digs and Seilhamer has 496.
Reach the reporter at matthew.storey@asu.edu
