At practice on Wednesday, the ASU volleyball team wore their game jerseys in preparation for their first games this weekend.
ASU will host the Sheraton Classic this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils will face off against Denver, Milwaukee and San Jose State in the tournament.
After three weeks of practice ASU is eager for the season to start. The Sun Devils compete with each other every day and welcome the new competition this weekend.
“We have been playing each other in practice so much so it gets kind of repetitive,” sophomore middle blocker Alexis Pinson said. “It’s nice to get some fresh new faces in there and play against them.”
The Sun Devils are confident that training camp has gotten them ready for the season. Players stressed how multiple reps and intense scrimmage sessions help the team improve as a whole. Most drills in practice involve the entire team and that builds team chemistry.
“We play a lot during the practice so we can be together and get used to each other,” said redshirt freshman middle blocker Julia Katolik.
The tournament offers solid competition for the Sun Devils. After being plagued with injuries last year, Denver finished the season 14-18, but is back to full health this season.
Milwaukee finished their season 20-9 last year and won the Horizon League regular season title.
SJSU went 8-22 in 2010 but defeated ASU in their last two meetings in 2000 and 2007.
The Sun Devils do not know much about their upcoming opponents this weekend. Since this is the first game of the year, there is no film on any of the teams for the players and coaches to study.
ASU’s goal is to not worry about the other teams this weekend and just focus on playing their best volleyball.
“We really have to focus on our side of the net,” Pinson said. “We cannot worry about what they are doing because we don’t know much about them.”
The team has practiced most of this week without coach Jason Watson. But they are working hard with their assistant coaches to be ready for this weekend.
“This week is hard because our coach is not here,” Katolik said. “We are trying to stay together and work as hard we did last couple of weeks.”
The Sun Devils want to start the season with a good note, especially after last year when the team only won four games in their first four tournaments.
The players understand that this weekend’s tournament is a great opportunity to start of the season with some wins.
“Obviously our team goal is to win each match and win the tournament and come out on top,” Pinson said.
The Sun Devils first game of the tournament is on Friday against Denver.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
