The ASU Sun Devil volleyball team gathers for a timeout in the fourth set of the match against Utah. The team is preparing for the upcoming UCLA and USC games by practicing serving. (Photo by Murphy Bannerman)
The ASU volleyball team recorded just four aces in its last two home matches against Colorado and Utah.
Sophomore middle blocker Whitney Follette had three in the first set against the Utes. Senior libero Stephanie Preach was the only other Sun Devil to record an ace all weekend.
Service line success isn’t always represented in service aces. Quality serves can also lead to scoring opportunities in other ways, but ASU didn’t do that either.
“We’ve got to serve better,” Watson said. “We’ve got to create pressure in other areas, and I think our serve is something that we’ve relied on.”
And with sophomore setter Bianca Arellano, arguably ASU’s best server, still recovering from an ankle injury, the Sun Devils can’t rely on her jump spin serve.
“Right now, I’m not too into the topspin jump serve, just because I don’t want to tire out my ankle,” Arellano said. “I’d rather be more 100 percent during the game, during defense, during transition.”
Arellano said she will try to speed up her jump float to create more pressure. But a team-wide goal is to drive the ball to the final third of the court when serving.
Although that was the same game plan against Utah, Arellano and company didn’t necessarily execute it. Putting on more pressure with the serve, though, does carry inherent risks. You have to accept the errors.
“We get some errors because of that, but we’ve just got to be able to drive it into that last one-third with some speed,” Watson said. “We’re just spending too much time in that mid one-third.”
Watson said that the big focus is on creating scoring opportunities, not necessarily inflating service ace numbers.
“We’re more after scoring points than we are direct scoring of points like aces,” Watson said. “We think that if we can get 10 points from the service line then we’re playing the game really quite nicely.”
The Sun Devils don’t focus much on numbers, but Watson said a one-to-two ace-to-error ratio is effective.
Arellano injury status
Arellano said her ankle is 90 percent healed and that she would consider herself completely healthy if she could jump at full capacity.
“My ankle’s getting stronger every day,” Arellano said. “In terms of pain, I’m not hurting when I’m out on the court and of course the adrenaline kicks in.”
More middle practice
The ASU coaching staff has designed several drills to force Arellano to set to the middle blockers in order to diversify the offense.
“We’ve written a couple of practices this week where, in order to win the drill, in order to have some success, you have to be able to set the quick,” Watson said.
With Arellano still recovering, Watson said the tendency is to set the left side, where she is most comfortable.
“I think when you initially come back you’re comfortable setting the left side because you just do it so much,” Watson said. “It’s harder to set quick, and it’s easier to set the antennas.”
The Sun Devils are back in action at the UCLA Bruins on Friday at 7:00 p.m MST.
Reach the reporter at bmargiot@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @BenMargiott
