As Pac-10 conference play is set to open this weekend the ASU volleyball team realizes the challenges in front of them, including facing two undefeated teams.
The Pac-10 conference is a powerhouse loaded with talent, including six teams ranked in the top 25.
The Pac-10 also contains the No. 1 team in the nation, and 11 of the past 20 NCAA championships have been won by teams in the conference.
ASU will be tested in its opening weekend with matchups against No. 1 Stanford and No. 8 California.
Although both teams bring a lot to the court, the Sun Devils believe they can compete.
“I feel like we are competing,” freshman outside hitter Danica Mendivil said. “I feel like we’re getting better; we are starting to click more.
“I’m ready to go out and play and kind of go out there and show teams that we can hang with them. We’re not just ASU; we are more than that, and we can come out and we can do well against them.”
The top ranked Cardinal (9-0) are surging so far this season. Stanford is coming off thrilling victories over No. 2 Penn State and No. 12 Texas.
“They instinctually play volleyball at a very high level for a very long period of time,” ASU coach Jason Watson said. “That’s our challenge, to be able to respond to that. I think our program is getting incrementally better, but the challenge is when you get into Pac-10 play, the level of competition gets exponentially better.”
While facing Stanford in game one is a daunting challenge, ASU has identified keys to its success.
“We can’t be great every once in a while,” senior libero Sarah Johnson said. “We have to be good over a long period of time. We can’t afford to make stupid mistakes. We can’t afford to have communication errors or a whole bunch of serve errors like we had this past weekend.”
ASU will return to Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday afternoon against No. 8 California. The Golden Bears (10-0) are enjoying their strongest season start since 2006.
“I like their setter a lot; she is kind of the athlete that makes that program run a little bit,” Watson said. “She’s this highly competitive individual and she’s playing well. [Junior outside hitter Tarah] Murrey’s doing a nice job too. She’s found her identity a little bit and is playing efficient. She’s playing about as good as she has.”
As conference play kicks off in 2010, Watson believes this season’s non-conference schedule got his team ready for the grueling Pac-10.
“I feel like this non-conference season has been great preparation for us,” Watson said. “Forcing us to play volleyball for long periods of time, and some days we’ve been good at it and some days we haven’t. I feel like it’s prepared us better for Pac-10 play than any other year we’ve been here.”
ASU takes on Stanford at 7:00 p.m. Friday and Cal at 12:30 Sunday.
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
