With two disappointing losses in Los Angeles, the ASU volleyball team’s postseason hopes were crushed by No. 10 UCLA and No. 6 Southern California over the weekend.
The Sun Devils (11-16, 5-9 Pac-10) suffered a sweep by the Bruins (19-7, 9-6) Friday night before a four-set loss against the Women of Troy (22-4, 11-4) on Saturday.
ASU entered the weekend’s action in desperate need of at least one victory to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive. However, with the two losses, the Sun Devils will not be competing in the postseason for the fourth straight year.
“Since we’ve been here, we’ve never played postseason, so it’s definitely a heartbreaker,” senior libero Sarah Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s hit us just yet, but to work for something every day for the past four years and to never achieve it, it’s heartbreaking for sure.”
Looking to restore some of their earlier season success against the Bruins, the Sun Devils struggled from the outset in their 22-25, 17-25, 19-25 loss.
It was a match of near misses for ASU as the defense notched 11.5 blocks, but couldn’t capitalize offensively against the Bruins.
Ten unforced errors and a paltry .026 attack percentage in the second frame plagued ASU as UCLA surged ahead thanks to senior outside hitter Dicey McGraw’s five kills.
The third set saw ASU narrow UCLA’s lead to 20-19, but the Bruins quickly responded with five points to capture the sweep.
In Saturday night’s action, USC came out firing from the start with 25-14 and 25-12 set wins to hold a 2-0 advantage.
USC freshman outside hitter Falyn Fonoimoana was a force and finished with 23 kills in the match. Junior outside hitter Alex Jupiter added to Fonoimoana’s impressive attack with 18 kills of her own.
“The usual Sun Devils were definitely not there yet,” sophomore middle blocker Erica Wilson said. “We knew we needed to pick it up if we wanted to win. We worked way too hard in practice to let them beat us up, and in the third set we came out ready.”
The third set proved to be the highlight of the evening for the Sun Devils.
Senior outside hitter Sarah Reaves’ kill inched ASU ahead 23-22 momentarily. After a 23-23 tie score, sophomore outside hitter Malia Marquardt sent the set to match point with a kill of her own. A rare attack error from Fonoimoana then gave ASU the 25-23 set win.
Set four saw USC jump out to a 10-5 lead and never look back as it earned the 25-17 set win and handed ASU the 1-3 match loss.
Despite their elimination from postseason play, the Sun Devils are focused on finishing strong in the season’s final four games.
“Sometimes when Sarah [Reaves] and I walk out on the court this season,” Johnson said, “we say we have to go all out because it’s our last chance. Hopefully this last four games Sarah and I can finish with a bang even though we won’t be going to postseason.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
