The ASU volleyball team fell below .500 for the first time this season after losses to No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 USC this weekend.
The Sun Devils (11-13, 3-10) lost 3-1 to the Bruins Friday and were swept 3-0 by the Women of Troy Saturday.
The losses leave ASU with little margin for error in its pursuit of an NCAA tournament bid. The team now needs four wins in its final five matches just to be eligible for the postseason.
The weekend could not have begun in much better fashion for the Sun Devils, as they won the opening game 30-27 over UCLA (24-2, 11-2).
Trailing 6-4, ASU went on a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead. The Bruins rallied to tie the score at 10, but the Sun Devils won three straight points and never trailed again in the game.
UCLA's late 7-1 run cut its deficit to two points, but a Bruin attack error gave ASU the win and a lead in the match. The Sun Devils made just two attack errors and hit .421 in the game.
However, ASU couldn't keep the momentum going in the second, as the Bruins jumped out to a 7-2 lead and led by as many as 16 points. They went on to win 30-15 with the Sun Devils hitting -.093 in the game.
UCLA came out of halftime in dominant fashion, taking a commanding 19-6 lead in the third without making one attack error in that stretch. ASU battled back, but too much damage had been done by the Bruins' mistake-free start. They hit .340 for the game and won 30-23.
The fourth game was close early, but UCLA used an 8-2 run to move ahead 19-11. Again the Sun Devils fought back late, but the Bruins put the match away with a 30-26 win.
UCLA finished with a .270 hitting percentage for the match while ASU hit .151 overall, including less than .200 in each of the last three games.
Senior outside hitter Nicole Morton had 18 kills and hit .410 to lead the Sun Devils. Fellow senior outside hitter Nina Reeves added 12 kills.
Junior libero Sydney Donahue led the team with 22 digs, while junior middle blocker Staci Smith had eight kills and six blocks.
Bruins senior middle blocker Nana Meriwether, who came in leading the Pac-10 in hitting percentage and blocks, continued her stellar season by hitting .581 with 20 kills and 11 blocks in the match.
ASU stayed right with USC (21-3, 10-3) for much of the opening game Saturday. It featured 12 ties and five lead changes, but the Women of Troy pulled away late to win 30-25 on the strength of a .419 hitting percentage in the game.
The Sun Devils led 13-11 in the second, but USC took control with a 7-0 run and went on to win 30-24.
The Women of Troy never trailed in the third, hitting .463 in the game to complete the sweep with a 30-19 win.
Overall, USC hit .379 with 60 kills and just 13 total attack errors. Junior outside hitter Asia Kaczor hit .541 and had 23 kills to lead the team, giving her 50 total kills in two matches against ASU this season.
Freshman Paige Mittelstaedt had 12 kills and hit .421 to lead the Sun Devils, while senior middle blocker Tierra Burnley added 11 kills.
Donahue had 10 digs in the match, meaning she needs just 33 more to reach the ASU career record of 1,597 and 67 more to match her own single-season school record of 628.
Reach the reporter at: matthew.storey@asu.edu.
