Competing in the Pac-10 conference is difficult enough.
Competing on the road against not only the conferences’ but the nation’s best teams is even more challenging.
The ASU volleyball team faces that challenge this weekend with conference matches against Washington State and No. 7 Washington.
The Sun Devils (8-11, 3-4 Pac-10) head to Pullman, Wash., on Friday night to battle the Cougars (6-11, 0-7). ASU’s second matchup comes in Seattle on Saturday against the Huskies (15-3, 4-3).
Due to the surplus of talent on both WSU and UW along with the intense road environments, the Sun Devils will be tested.
State Press Television By F. Diamond Grijalva
“It’s hard to go on the road and win,” ASU coach Jason Watson said. “That trip hasn’t been kind to us in the past. I don’t think we can assume anything other than it’s going to be tough.”
ASU has amassed a 1-2 mark in three conference matches on the road this season with disappointing losses coming against UA and Oregon.
The Sun Devils are confident their struggles in away matches can be eliminated.
“We just have to focus on our game plan, and play hard start to finish,” freshman setter Stephanie Preach said. “There’s not very much room to make mistakes, especially in the Pac-10. Every team is really good. I think we have to act like we are playing at home on our court, but with people yelling at us instead of for us.”
The Sun Devils are riding a three-game winning streak into this weekend’s play. ASU is fresh off upset victories over then ranked No. 5 Southern California and No. 10 UCLA.
Despite the recent success, the Sun Devils remain driven to continue their improvement into Pac-10 contenders.
“Yeah we feel good,” Preach said. “We know we are capable of beating these teams, but we’re also not complacent at all. We’re still going to keep working hard every day in the gym and playing hard every chance we get.”
The work to be done kicks off Friday night in Bohler Gym. The Sun Devils will face a WSU squad, who after seven Pac-10 matches, is still searching for its first conference win.
The Cougars are no strangers to success as they soared to the NCAA Tournament in 2009. WSU will utilize junior outside hitter Meagan Ganzer to power its offense.
Ganzer ranks second in the Pac-10 with her 5.29 kills per set average. Ganzer has also notched double digit kills in every match this season.
After Friday night’s match in Pullman, the Sun Devils will move on to Seattle where they will meet the Huskies on Saturday.
Similar to last weekend with USC, the Sun Devils are hoping to snap a long-standing losing streak against UW.
UW has beaten ASU in 15 consecutive matches, and holds the all time series lead 34-18.
“I think system wise and how they approach the game is very similar to us,” Watson said. “What has enabled them to be so great for so long is the attention to detail they have their attention to siding out.”
The Huskies’ offense contains an abundance of talent with senior outside hitters Becky Perry and Kindra Carlson. Carlson and Perry are ranked eighth and ninth respectively on the Pac-10 top-ten kills list this season.
Watson believes that UW’s success is largely due to redshirt freshman libero Jenna Orlandini.
“Washington is this wonderfully balanced team,” Watson said. “I think what allows them to be balanced is their libero. She’s really aggressive and she’s taking balls and letting hitters go hit.”
UW’s balanced offense will not only push the Sun Devils, but ASU’s ability to compete on the road will be tested yet again. The Sun Devils have lost seven straight in Seattle.
“They give the setter lots of time and lots of opportunities to set this balanced offense,” Watson said. “If you want to disrupt them you’ve got to start there. That’s not easy to do at their place. It’s a wonderful environment, probably one of the best environments in college volleyball.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
