It was not a storybook beginning, but it did have a nice ending.
The 2011 season did not go as the ASU volleyball team planned. But the incredible determination and drive showed during the year when the Sun Devils kept fighting and turned the season around near the end.
“Clearly it wasn’t the season that we all envisioned,” coach Jason Watson said. “But we did manage to end better than we started.”
Entering into the 2011 season, the ASU volleyball team had high hopes. Like most teams entering a new season, there is a lot of optimism at the beginning of the year.
In Watson’s fourth year, the goal was simple across the board for the team. Both the coaches and players wanted to qualify for the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year.
With a 9-22 record, the goal was out of reach for the Sun Devils and their season ended earlier than planned.
At the beginning of the year, the team won two out of three games at home. Then the Sun Devils hit the road, embarking on tough non-conference tournament schedule.
The Sun Devils faced two ranked teams in non-conference play. They were away from Tempe for over a month and finished their non-conference with a 4-9 record.
Watson said that next season there will be more non-conference games scheduled and he hopes the team can stay home more next season.
“Nobody wants to come here, they all want us to come there,” Watson said. “We are negotiating some stuff and see if we can get some (home games).”
ASU then started their conference season in the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is no doubt one of the best conferences in women’s volleyball, with seven teams competing in the NCAA tournament and six teams finishing ranked in the top 15 schools in the country.
The young ASU team struggled in the Pac-12 play. They did not win their first Pac-12 match until nine matches into conference play.
When most teams would pack it in and forget about the rest of the season, the Sun Devils continued to work.
The Sun Devils continued to compete in the Pac-12 conference and finished the year winning four straight matches at home.
Redshirt sophomore Ashley Kastl said the struggles the team faced in the beginning helped them grow stronger.
“As a group the things you go through and the obstacles you face together when you overcome them it builds character,” Kastl said. “Everyone from this team, from this year, from this season has definitely come out a lot stronger than we started.”
The Sun Devils definitely improved and ended the season on a high note. The team now looks to the future and the feeling is optimistic.
Freshman outside hitter Nora Tuioti-Mariner hopes that the same will continue next season.
“We started off kind of rocky but we ended on a high note,” Tuioti-Mariner said. “Hopefully that momentum will carry on to the next season.”
Tuioti-Mariner was voted honorable mention for the Pac-12 all-freshman team. Tuioti-Mariner and Kastl both return for the Sun Devils next year.
Other starting players, such as, sophomore libero Stephanie Preach, junior middle blocker Erica Wilson and freshman setter Shannan McCready return to the lineup next year as well.
Watson also brings in a strong recruiting class next season. Allison Palmer from Laguna Beach, Calif. will challenge McCready at the setter position next season.
Macey Gardner from Gilbert High School will bring some offensive power to the left outside hitter position.
Six-foot-four-inch middle blocker Mercedes Binns is working to be academically eligible next semester.
With the new recruits and so many players returning Watson is excited for the spring.
“There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle and there are a lot pieces coming in to support that,” Watson said. “We are really enthused, we are really excited about the direction it’s going.”
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
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