Jason Watson, the head coach of the ASU women’s volleyball team, gives his athletes blocking advice during a practice. The girls constantly rotate players on and off the court so they all go through the same practice drills. (Photo by Katie Dunphy)
After only one week together since returning from summer break, ASU volleyball showed some rust in an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday night.
“We have an enormous amount of work left to do,” coach Jason Watson said.
The Sun Devils failed to control the ball well, something Watson stresses in practice.
One thing Watson was pleased with was the game pace. The team waited for the right shot and allowed the game to develop around them, according to Watson.
“I thought that when we got dialed in, I thought that we forced each other to play the game long,” Watson said.
The game was held at an unusual venue, as it served as a welcome event for ASU’s West campus in front of more than 200 students, something that Watson said may have affected his team’s performance.
“There’s just some different stresses and strains that I don’t think we responded well to,” Watson said.
The regular season begins Aug. 30 at Utah Valley.
Other notes
- Junior middle blocker Julia Katolik and sophomore outside hitter Macey Gardner spearheaded the maroon team’s efforts, defeating the black team 2-1 in the shortened scrimmage.
- Of the four freshmen, outside hitter Kizzy Willey saw the most playing time. She joined the team in December upon graduating early from high school.
- Replacing Erica Wilson will be one of the toughest challenges for a very young Sun Devil team in 2013. The position battle is in full swing, with Willey, freshman outside hitter BreElle Bailey and junior outside hitter Nora Tuioti-Mariner all in the running. Bailey stood out most to coach Watson in the scrimmage Saturday.
“That’s someone we’re going to look to, we’re going to count on,” Watson said. “Her setter/hitter relationship was just really really good.”
- Sophomore middle blocker Andi Lowrance sat out Saturday’s scrimmage with a minor injury.
“She’s got something that we’re just going to nurse it through,” Watson said. “We just wanted to err on the side of caution.
Watson was confident she would be active in next week’s practices and scrimmages.
Reach the reporter at bmargiot@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @BenMargiott.
