Freshman outside hitter Macey Gardner (12) goes up for a spike during the Sun Devils’ 3-0 win over California on Friday. (Photo by Kyle Newman)The ASU volleyball team split its games this weekend, moving back to .500 in the Pac-12.
The Sun Devils swept California on Friday, but were unable to sweep both games in the weekend as they dropped their Sunday matinee game to No. 7 Stanford.
The Sun Devils got another huge performance from freshman outside hitter Macey Gardner as she tallied 20 kills in the team’s sweep over Cal (8-6, 2-2 Pac-12). It’s the first time that ASU has swept Cal since the Sun Devils did it back in 2000.
Everyone on the Sun Devils hit at a high percentage Friday night, as the team finished with a .440 percentage — the highest clip that ASU has hit at this season.
Freshman middle blocker Whitney Follette had her best game of the season as she racked up eight kills on a .727 percentage, which was a season-best. She also contributed defensively with five total blocks, also season-best.
The tone was set for the game early, as the Sun Devils got off to a quick lead (4-2) thanks to three straight kills from Gardner and senior outside hitter Erica Wilson in the first set. ASU slowly pulled away from the Golden Bears throughout the set, before closing it on a kill from Follette to take the first set 25-17.
The second set featured a more close battle between the two programs. Follette, Pinson, and Wilson all largely contributed in the set, helping ASU stay ahead of Cal. The final three points for ASU all came on Wilson’s kills, as the Sun Devils took the set 25-19.
With a sweep of Cal on the horizon, the Sun Devils turned it on offensively, as the team combined to hit .594 in the set. Leading the set was Gardner, who accounted for 10 of her 20 kills in the set alone, helping ASU down Cal 25-14 to sweep the Golden Bears.
“One of the big things before the match was we took a look at film and looking at the other team’s tendencies, and during the match, they all came true,” Gardner said. “We noticed where the hitters were hitting, where our blocking needed to be and where our defense needed to line up, and it kind of fell into place tonight.”
Game 2 of the weekend featured No. 7 Stanford Cardinal (12-2, 4-0 Pac-12), who came into the game fresh off a win against UA on Friday night. Even with over 1,500 people in attendance, the Sun Devils dropped the game 3-1 to the Cardinal.
The Sun Devils were unable to click offensively, as the Stanford blockers made life tough on the ASU hitters. The Sun Devils hit a clip of .132 over the course of the four sets. Gardner and Wilson both struggled as they hit .149 and .021, respectively.
Freshman setter Allison Palmer, who played in every set for the Sun Devils this season, was removed from the game midway through the second set due to an ankle sprain she suffered Saturday during practice.
Sophomore setter Shannan McCready filled in the role nicely, as she tallied 29 assists in her time on the court.
“It was good,” McCready said. “I was a little nervous, considering the circumstances, but I just wanted to go in and do the best I could.”
After dropping the first two sets to the Cardinal, the Sun Devils were able to fight back and take the third set, 28-26.
Stanford was able to hold off ASU as the Cardinal took the fourth set, 25-23.
“I think we can say were disappointed,” Watson said. “I thought that we had some chances and things we could've controlled, certainly better. The unforced errors that we had, we just didn't do a good job of that, and the cumulative effect of that is we lose some tight games.”
With the loss, the Sun Devils move back to .500 in the Pac-12 on the season. ASU travels to southern California next weekend to take on UCLA and USC.
Reach the reporter at talopez3@asu.edu
