As the ball hits the floor the home crowd quiets. The opposing team has just scored a point against the ASU volleyball team and now has control of the serve. The Sun Devils immediately meet in the center of the court and one phrase is said amongst the team — “One and Done.”
The 2007 edition of the Diamondbacks had “Anybody, Anytime.” The ASU football team has “It’s Time.”
“One and Done” is the slogan constantly repeated at volleyball practices and games. The players and coaches say it when the Sun Devils are succeeding and when they are struggling.
Sophomore libero Stephanie Preach says it when the Sun Devils are defending their opponents’ serve. When she says, “one and done,” she is urging her defense to stop the opponent on this play. The Sun Devils want the opponent to only have one serve each possession
“When they have the ball we say, ‘one and done’,” Preach said. “Then we put the ball away and that’s it, it’s our point.”
The slogan does not only pertain to that particular situation on the court, but it also reminds the Sun Devils to move on from a mistake.
“You can’t let the same mistake happen twice,” redshirt sophomore outside hitter Ashley Kastl said. “You tell yourself in a positive way, ‘One and Done.’ This is what happened, it’s over with, now on to the next play.”
The creation of the slogan is kind of a myth. None of the players and coaches really knows when was the first time anyone said the phrase. Whenever it started, it stuck with the team and continues to help the Sun Devils.
Head coach Jason Watson talked about how whenever someone says the slogan; his team begins to immediately focus on the next play.
“The most important thing that I see it do is it keeps us focused,” Watson said. “We need to be in the present, we don’t need to worry about what happened in the past or what’s happening in the future.”
When the opposing team has control of the serve, the team believes they lose all the momentum in the game. Redshirt sophomore libero Caitlyn Murphy explained that “One and Done” helps the Sun Devils get both the ball and the momentum back on their side.
“Whoever has the momentum the majority of the game is going to win,” Murphy said. “So we want to get the ball back right away and take control of the momentum of the game.”
Kastl agreed that controlling the ball is a key to victory.
“When we have the ball we have more opportunities to score points,” Kastl said. “We’ll eventually get to 25 and win a match.”
“One and Done,” means a lot to the Sun Devils volleyball team, and the players want to keep the slogan as a tradition in the future. “The more we say it, the more it will stick,” Preach said. “As long as I’m here I’ll keep saying it and I’m sure it will rub off on the rest.”
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