On the volleyball court offense is crucial. Without a strong offensive attack, teams rarely thrive. A well-built offense can make a world of a difference.
For the ASU volleyball team, putting an end to its offensive woes and finding that well-built offense has been a focus throughout recent practices.
As the Sun Devils (5-10, 0-3 Pac-10) prepare for their upcoming contests against No. 13 Oregon and Oregon State, they are looking to employ a more balanced offense.
While senior outside hitter Sarah Reaves continues to lead the surge, ASU is determined to utilize all of its weapons on offense.
“That’s part of this week’s preparation for those two schools, is to get a little more balance in some things,” ASU coach Jason Watson said. “The primary person for that is [junior setter] Cat [Highmark], and I think she understands that. She’s doing some things, and we are setting up some scenarios in practices to be able to change that look.”
Watson hopes that Highmark and the rest of the Sun Devil offense will be more aggressive offensively when playing on the road.
“When you go on the road, it’s harder to pass serve in somebody else’s gym,” Watson said. “We can’t look for ideal circumstances to go push quick because they just may not come at the degree of frequency that they do at home. If you’re waiting for the planets to align in order to get this balanced offense, then you’re probably going to wait a long time, and clearly that was the case down in Tucson [last weekend].”
While Highmark will work to provide plenty of sets across the court, other members of the Sun Devil attack realize they too must be in sync with their setter.
“We’re working a lot on our setter hitter connection,” sophomore outside hitter Malia Marquardt said. “Definitely just keeping us in system so Cat has some things to work with.”
Katolik settling in
After a long and difficult process to be cleared for competition, freshman middle blocker Julia Katolik is finally a Sun Devil. Katolik has made the transition from her native Greece to Tempe this fall.
“There were some things NCAA Clearinghouse-wise that she had to really work quite hard on,” Watson said. “It was a matter of interpreting her education. ASU interpreted her final transcript different than the NCAA Clearinghouse.”
Katolik was finally cleared and joined the Sun Devils two weeks after school started. As the season moves along, Katolik continues to learn and adapt to the ASU system.
“She’s playing well right now,” Watson said. “We’re opting to kind of protect this year for her to redshirt her and give her some time.”
Prepping for road environments
After competing at home for over a month, the Sun Devils experienced an uncomfortable road crowd last weekend against UA.
With several upcoming matches on the road, ASU is looking to overcome the opposing crowd.
“The ones who have been here longer are kind of used to it,” Reaves said. “It may play a role in some of our younger players. Our coaches talked about how to tune it out and how to just play your game and not pay attention to it.”
Injury Update
The Sun Devils continue to fight the injury bug this season. Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Kastl has been kept off the court due to a right shoulder injury.
Kastl has not competed in any of ASU’s conference matches, but was able to return to practice this week in a limited role.
“She has to do a lot of rehab actually,” Watson said. “I think that’s going to take some time. What we are happy about for her and for us is that she can now participate. She can’t take many swings or any swings, but she’s out there passing and doing some things and competing, and for her that’s a pretty important step.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
