Freshman McKenzie Willey defends the net against Colorado at Wells Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils fell to 4-2 in the month of November on Sunday after losing to Utah. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)
The turn of the calendar has sparked the Sun Devils to victories over then-No. 23 Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State and Colorado.
The loss to No. 3 Washington isn’t too concerning, because the Huskies will likely win the Pac-12. But it’s Sunday’s loss to Utah that might significantly hurt ASU’s chances of making the NCAA tournament in December.
Coach Jason Watson said the Sun Devils can’t split series anymore.
“You’d hope at home you get this one so you got to get two of the next four,” Watson said. “I think you feel better going into Selection Sunday with three of the next four.”
At home, against a mid-tier Utah team, the Sun Devils lost the serve receive battle, a skill that had been locked down since the start of November.
NCAA tournament implications aside, ASU will struggle in its final four matches if the Sun Devils can’t serve to seams and put pressure on the opposition.
Another concerning trend from ASU’s weekend against the mountain schools was poor distribution. On Sunday, ASU’s left-side hitters (sophomore Macey Gardner and freshman BreElle Bailey) combined for 99 of ASU’s 156 swings.
Bailey was fantastic, turning 24 of her 47 attempts for kills, a career high. Yet Gardner was less effective, hitting just .192.
On the right side, freshman opposite hitter Kizzy Willey took just 20 swings. ASU’s middle blockers, sophomores Whitney Follette and Mercedes Binns, totaled just eight kills on 29 attempts.
“I didn’t think our distribution was very good at all,” Watson said. “I didn’t think it was that great against Colorado, too, until game three, where we got (Binns) and (Follette) involved.”
Against a weaker Colorado team, it didn’t matter. Middle blockers took just 25 attempts and ASU swept Colorado easily.
But the lack of distribution showed against Utah, the Pac-12’s second-best blocking team.
Watson believes sophomore setter Bianca Arellano, who played in just her second game back from knee injury, is still apprehensive to set the middle blockers.
“Right now, for Bianca, I think there’s this hesitancy, especially when you’re playing catch-up, to go to a relationship that you probably don’t feel is as developed or as strong,” Watson said. “We’re skewed heavily towards the left side yet again. We’ve got to spend some time continuing to work that relationship.”
Failing to spread the offense had a direct affect on the outcome of game two in the match against Utah. ASU had set point, but Gardner committed an error and the Sun Devils went on to drop the set, which shifted the momentum to Utah.
The Sun Devils get a chance to get back on track Friday at UCLA (14-12, 5-11 Pac-12). ASU matches up against USC (22-5, 12-4 Pac-12) Sunday at noon.
Reach the reporter at bmargiot@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @BenMargiott
