A team’s ranking is just a number.
Last year, the ASU women’s volleyball team knew that better than anyone. And they have a chance to prove it again this weekend.
The Sun Devils travel to northern California this weekend to take on 6th-ranked Stanford and 4th-ranked Cal.
Going on the road in the Pac-12 is never easy, but taking on two Top-10 teams is a tall order.
ASU is prepared for what the weekend has in store. Players and coaches believe that they can beat any team.
Sophomore outside hitter Bethany Jorgensen said that team chemistry on the court is the key to upsetting their opponents.
“(We need) to stay together as a team,” Jorgensen said. “We can out team anyone. It doesn’t matter their ranking because anything can happen.”
The Sun Devils are coming off of a six-game losing streak, but view this weekend as a chance to turn everything around.
Coach Jason Watson said his team is working breaking down the game plan and working on the fundamentals.
“We did a lot of work … where we are just looking at being simple,” Watson said. “That’s been the theme this week and we’ll find out this weekend if we are going to get a return on it.”
Friday night the Sun Devils will take on the Stanford Cardinal.
The Cardinal is looking to bounce back after losing two straight games to USC and UCLA.
ASU will focus their defense on Stanford sophomore outside hitter Rachel Williams. Williams leads the Cardinal in points and kills. She averages an impressive 5.18 points per set.
Defensively the Cardinal relies on sophomore middle blocker Carly Wopat. The 6-2 blocker has 68 total blocks on the year.
ASU has had a rough history with Stanford. The Sun Devils have an overall record of 4-57 against the Cardinal.
Freshman setter Shannan McCready said that ASU’s past experience with ranked teams should help prepare them for this weekend.
“We learned that we know we can do it,” McCready said. “We hung in with them when we were performing well so we need to tighten up and focus on the little things.”
Then Sunday afternoon the Sun Devils travel to Cal to take on the Golden Bears.
Cal held on to the number one ranking for most of the season. But a pair of losses against the two Southern California schools snapped their 13-match winning streak, and they fell four spots in the polls.
Cal senior outside hitter Tarah Murrey is picking up right where she left off last season. The first team All-American has 180 total kills this season.
Cal junior setter Elly Barrett is filling the void left by All-American Carli Lloyd. Barrett already has 535 assists this year.
Last year the Sun Devils beat then-No. 2 Cal in Berkeley. This weekend could be another opportunity for the Sun Devils to pull a huge upset.
Sophomore libero Jenny Teslevich believes that her team can win this weekend. They have to just play the game they know how to play.
“(We need to) be us and be us consistently,” Teslevich said. “We can play and beat the best of teams as long as we’re us.”
ASU goes into the weekend as underdogs. If they leave the weekend with just one upset, it could be a great starting point to turn the season around.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
