There’s nothing wrong with a team experimenting with new things while in a slump.
The Sun Devils lost to both 6th-ranked Stanford and 4th-ranked Cal over the weekend, and are still winless in the Pac-12. But the team did show major signs of improvement.
ASU coach Jason Watson said he noticed his team had trouble capitalizing on several opportunities.
“We’re creating all these chances and putting ourselves in a position to score points,” Watson said. “We haven’t been able to turn them.”
ASU started off the weekend against the Stanford Cardinal.
Playing in front of their home crowd, Stanford came out fast and took the match 3-0.
The Cardinal won its first two games using impressive blocks to pull away at the end.
Stanford usually relies on sophomore middle blocker Carly Wopat for her defensive skills, but in the match against ASU she was an offensive threat with 12 kills.
The Cardinal went up 4-0 after four serves by sophomore defensive specialist Mary Ellen Luck, the younger sister of Stanford senior quarterback Andrew Luck.
Stanford never lost the lead and won the third set 25-18, finishing the sweep over the Sun Devils.
Sophomore libero Stephanie Preach had an impressive game defensively with 19 digs. Her digs saved points and kept the Sun Devils in the game.
ASU was looking to turn things around in their match against Cal. Watson said that he switched up the rotation to see if that would help.
“We went with a little different lineup (Saturday) against Cal,” Watson said. “I thought it was much, much better for us.”
The new lineup featured players who have not seen as much court time this year, like senior outside hitter Malia Bachynski. Bachynski stepped up to the challenge and was a spark offensively for the Sun Devils with six kills.
Like Stanford, Cal came out strong in the first set. They beat the Sun Devils by six to go up 1-0.
ASU then responded and battled hard with Cal the entire set. The set came down the final points, with the Golden Bears winning by two.
But ASU was not going to be swept. On the back of redshirt sophomore outside hitter Ashley Kastl’s five kills and one ace, the Sun Devils took game three. Kastl had 19 kills, the most of all players in the match.
Watson said he was proud of the way Kastl played in the match.
“I thought Ashley Kastl rebounded and played particularly well,” Watson said. “It was nice to get some production out of both of our left sides.”
The Sun Devils had momentum going into the fourth game, but Watson said the team struggled to get anything going offensively.
Late in the game the Golden Bears went on a seven-point run to put themselves up 18-9.
Cal went on to win the set and take the match 3-1.
Freshman outside hitter Nora Tuioti-Mariner was second on the team with kills. Watson wants to rely on her for more offensive production based on her improvement over the course of the season.
“Against Cal we moved (Tuioti-Mariner) from the right side to the left,” Watson said. “So she carried an even bigger offensive load for us.”
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
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