The ASU volleyball team is not the same team that they were a month ago. Neither are No. 2 UCLA and No. 1 USC.
The Sun Devils are on a three-game winning streak and haven’t looked better this season. They look to continue the streak when they travel to the top-ranked Los Angeles schools.
Sophomore libero Stephanie Preach is confident heading into the weekend because the team has improved so much late in the season.
“I think our team has gotten a lot better just in these past three games,” Preach said. “We have the talent, we have the skill; it’s just a matter of putting it on the court.”
Coach Jason Watson said his team has made vast improvements since the last time ASU has played UCLA and USC. But he also said that those teams have been improving as well.
“I think we are better,” Watson said. “We played well, especially against USC last time. But they are also better. USC is better and UCLA is better.”
The last time the Sun Devils took on the Trojans they staged a late game comeback. ASU was down 10 points late in their last set. They then tied up the score at 24 and pushed the game into extra sets. USC ended up winning the match.
The Sun Devils are looking to avoid falling behind in this match. Preach said the key to this weekend’s games was to stay consistent and stick with USC and UCLA the entire match.
Junior middle blocker Erica Wilson said that the team has been playing more in sync and that should help them this weekend.
“I think in the beginning of the year we definitely fragmented as a team a lot on court,” Wilson said. “Now we collaborate a lot more, we stay together and we talk to each other more and that helps out a lot.”
ASU defense will keep their sights on USC senior outside hitter Alex Jupiter. Jupiter hurt the Sun Devils with 15 kills the last time they played and was awarded Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after throwing down 14 kills against Oregon last week.
USC should be focusing their defensive attention on ASU redshirt sophomore outside hitter Ashley Kastl. Kastl has had 27 kills in two matches in the past two weeks.
The Sun Devils are playing the rest of the season with nothing to lose. With three wins under their belt, the team is looking to upset the top two teams in the country.
Last year, right about this time in the season, the Sun Devils upset then-No. 2 Cal in their gym. The team is looking to have a similar road trip to end their season on this year.
“We did it last year,” Preach said. “If we just stay on task and do what we need to do we can definitely upset this team,”
Watson understands the challenge that is coming this weekend. With the way that the Sun Devils have been playing he is confident in their chances.
“We got a challenging weekend, you know, with No. 1 and No. 2 at their place,” Watson said. “But I like how we are playing volleyball so I like our chances.”
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
