The volleyball season is underway and it is time for the Sun Devils to hit the road.
The ASU volleyball team travels to Ames, Iowa this weekend to compete in the Iowa State Challenge. Over the weekend the Sun Devils will face off against Iowa, Iowa State and Southern Mississippi.
The Sun Devils (2-1) opened the year at last weekend’s tournament in Tempe and had both success and disappointment. ASU played strong games against Denver and Milwaukee but suffered a loss to San Jose State.
ASU coach Jason Watson said the team wants to take what they learned from last weekend and use it in this tournament in Iowa.
“We have an opportunity to get back on track,” Watson said. “One of the things that we need to ensure that we do is keep this level of focus for a long period and hold them accountable to the details.”
The Iowa State Challenge offers some excellent competition for the Sun Devils.
ASU’s first opponent, Iowa, hosted their own tournament last weekend and went 1-2.
The Hawkeyes are led offensively by freshman outside hitter Alex Lovell. Lovell had 14 kills in their win against Central Michigan.
On the defensive side Iowa relies on sophomore defensive specialist Bethany Yeager and senior middle blocker Mallory Husz. Yeager had 25 digs and Husz had six blocks in Iowa’s second match against St. Louis.
It is called the Iowa State Challenge for a reason, and ASU expects to be pushed by Iowa State. The Cyclones rank 18th in the D-1 coaches’ poll.
“Iowa State is probably the better team out of the three that are there,” Watson said. “They are a wonderfully well-coached team.”
ISU went 3-0 in their season-opening tournament and are looking to continue their win streak at home.
Sophomore libero Kristen Hahn and senior outside hitter Carly Jenson lead the Cyclones’ starting lineup. Hahn was voted Big 12 defensive player of the week and will make the Sun Devils work for every point.
Jenson was a dual threat last weekend with 18 kills and 13 digs in ISU’s match against Cincinnati.
The Sun Devils last match will be against Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles went 3-0 in their home tournament last weekend.
Junior outside hitter Halie Ecker had a solid tournament, with 19 kills and 16 digs in USM’s match against Chattanooga.
Watson said part of the preparation for the weekend is planning for their opponents’ different styles of play.
“The Iowa schools are these physical schools,” Watson said. “They do some things offensively that we haven’t seen and we won’t see in our conference.”
Junior middle blocker Erica Wilson said what the team worked this week was simple.
“Do our job, stay disciplined, make sure that we are all competing and holding each other accountable,” Wilson said.
During practice, one phrase is constantly repeated: "the little things." Coaches and players stress the importance of fine-tuning different fundamentals that help the team work together as a unit.
“The little things are just basics,” said sophomore outside hitter Ashley Kastl. “The fundamentals are all baby steps to getting to big things. It’s really important for us to make sure that all those little things are absolutely focused on in practice.”
The Sun Devils have many goals going into this weekend. ASU is focusing on improving skills such as setter location, crisper passes and responding on defense to set up clean blocks.
But as always the main objective for the tournament is to win.
Wilson said ASU intends to “go undefeated.”
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
