For most of the Sheraton Classic over the weekend, the ASU volleyball team played without coach Jason Watson.
But even without their coach, who was out for medical reasons, the Sun Devils had a successful tournament, winning two out of three games.
ASU assistant coach Samantha Stuart was in control for ASU’s first game against Denver University.
The chemistry between the ASU hitters and setter Sarah McGaffin continues to improve. In the first game, McGaffin had seven assists.
One of the hitters McGaffin set up was junior middle blocker Erica Wilson.
“I thought she did awesome,” Wilson said. “She has improved so much since spring has started.”
The Sun Devils pulled away in the first game, beating the Pioneers 25-14.
The teams switched sides but the momentum remained with the Sun Devils in the second game. The game was close in the opening serves, until the Sun Devils began to capitalize on the Pioneers mistakes.
After a Denver serve went out of bounds, McGaffin set up redshirt sophomore Ashley Kastl for a kill, and the Sun Devils increased their lead to eight.
Kastl provided the offense with nine kills. Wilson had three blocks in the game, helping the Sun Devils hold the Pioneers to only 12 points. ASU won game two against Denver 25-12.
However, Denver remained resilient. In the third game the Pioneers kept it close, right to the end.
Late in the game the Sun Devils and Pioneers were tied at 20. But after a meeting in the middle of the court, ASU scored six points in a row. Denver answered back with two points, but on the next serve the Sun Devils won the game 25-23, winning the match 3-0.
“I got a little nervous in the third,” Stuart said. “We fought back and we ended better than we started. It was a chance for us to get a little bit better and we did that.”
Freshman outside hitter Nora Tuioti-Mariner scored the game winning point in the Denver game. Earlier in the week, Watson talked about the extra effort she was making during camp. That effort paid off, and Tuioti-Mariner appeared in the starting lineup.
“I was really nervous in the beginning,” Tuioti-Mariner said. “My teammates around me made me feel really comfortable and that’s what matters.”
ASU prevails over Milwaukee
On Saturday, the Sun Devils started the second match of their tournament against Horizon League champions Milwaukee, and challenged the Sun Devils throughout the opening game. Neither team established a sizable lead.
Near the end both teams were knotted up at 25. The Panthers capitalized after the Sun Devils could not get the ball over in three hits, winning the first game 29-27.
ASU was eager to bounce back in the second game.
“We decided to help each other out, stick together, calm down and play our game,” said sophomore outside hitter Danica Mendivil.
ASU came out swinging, leading Milwaukee 7-2 in the opening serves. While the Panthers kept it close, the Sun Devils won by two points.
In the third game Wilson proved why she was voted MVP of the tournament. She had one of her most impressive games of the tournament with 13 kills, two block assists, and a .458 hitting percentage. ASU won the third game 25-21 on a spike by Wilson.
In the fourth game ASU held on to the lead for most of the game. When the Sun Devils tried to increase their lead the Panthers would always creep back, something the Sun Devils intend to work on.
“We will get a lead, then start coasting,” Mendivil said. “When you start to get a lead that’s when you need to push harder because that’s when they are going to start fighting.”
Even though Milwaukee fought back, the Sun Devils closed out the fourth game 25-22 and won the series 3-1.
Sun Devils fall to Spartans
After going 2-0 in the tournament ASU was confident they could sweep the tournament.
San Jose State had other plans.
It was Watson’s first match back, but the Sun Devils came out flat. The Spartans jumped out 14-9 on the Sun Devils. SJSU won the first two games by the same score of 25-22.
Watson said disappointed in the way his team performed against SJSU.
“When you have an opportunity to close out your home tournament and come out a little flat it’s disappointing,” said Watson. “We have got make sure that we end things better than we start and we clearly didn’t do that.”
The Sun Devils showed a spark in the third game. Their energy was much higher as they dominated the Spartans 25-16. Sophomore Stephanie Preach said players relaxed in the fourth game, which lead to their success.
“We just played and we weren’t over thinking things,” Preach said. “We were just playing our game that we knew how to play.”
But by that point it was too late for the Sun Devils. SJSU won the match after beating ASU 25-23 in game four.
“We can’t afford to lose matches like this,” Preach said. “We are going to get in the gym and work extremely hard to move forward and have different outcomes for our next tournaments.”
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
