The Sun Devils celebrates a hard-fought point at the end of the 2nd set in their sweep against Colorado. ASU faces UCLA Friday and No. 8 USC Sunday. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)
The ASU volleyball team knows a little bit about knocking off Pac-12 powerhouses with an NCAA bid on the line.
In the Sun Devils’ last road game of the 2012-13 regular season, they defeated No. 5 Washington in four sets, likely a big factor in making the national tournament.
Then-No. 6 USC was also victimized by ASU’s late push, when the Sun Devils closed out the regular season 6-3.
ASU will need a similar streak in the 2013-14 season, but the task won’t be easy. Coach Jason Watson and his team venture to Southern California in their final full road weekend for matches against UCLA Friday and No. 8 USC Sunday.
Although the Women of Troy are third in the Pac-12, they are experiencing somewhat of a slump since starting conference play 7-0. USC is just 5-4 since their hot start, including dropping matches to both Washington and Washington State. Simply put, USC is vulnerable, having already essentially secured a tournament bid with 22 wins.
Nevertheless, it’s still a Trojan team that once held the AVCA coaches poll’s top spot. USC has also defeated No. 5 Stanford — twice.
The Sun Devils are keying in on USC outside hitter Samantha Bricio, who is the NCAA’s second-best server, averaging 0.68 aces per set. The 6-foot-2-inch sophomore aced ASU five times when then-No. 1 USC swept the Sun Devils on Oct. 18.
“What stands out to me is that we didn’t handle their serving very well at all (in the first game against USC),” Watson said. “We’re going to hopefully get in their gym and get some time and see if we can get better.”
With sophomore setter Bianca Arellano avoiding the jump spin serve, ASU doesn’t have a player that can closely mimic Bricio’s unique serve in practice. Watson said this certainly poses an additional challenge.
“Part of it’s going to be our emphasis on film, watching that and trying to get up on that tendency and then manage it,” Watson said. “Let’s not make it perfect, let’s just get it nice and high and let Bianca do the work to better the ball.”
USC runs a 6-2 offense with setters Hayley Crone and Alice Pizzasegola.
“They run this nice 6-2 where they get four really good pin hitters in, and obviously their middles are always really strong, too,” Arellano said.
While much of the focus is on USC, the Sun Devils also play Friday against UCLA, a team they were also swept by at home.
ASU can’t overlook UCLA, as the Bruins have gone 5-6 in conference after losing their first five Pac-12 matches.
Junior outside hitter Karsta Lowe is the Bruins’ best hitter. She led the way for UCLA in the first game against ASU, converting for kills on 17 of her 38 attempts.
Friday’s match at UCLA begins at 7:00 p.m MST. The Sun Devils finish the weekend Sunday at USC at noon MST.
Additional Weekend Notes
– UCLA redshirt freshman outside hitter Haley Lawless was injured while playing against ASU on Oct. 20. The Tempe native has not played in a game since that date.
Reach the reporter at bmargiot@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @BenMargiott
