After taking the game's first set against the nation's top ranked team, No. 18 ASU volleyball was unable to hang on, dropping the final three sets in a 3-1 loss to Stanford.
No. 18 ASU came out energetic. The players weren’t making errors. The team looked confident, taking the first set of Sunday’s match 25-20.
No. 1 Stanford is ranked so high for a reason. It knows how to adjust schemes and create strong defensive stands. ASU lost the next three sets (15-25, 22-25, 18-25) as Stanford won 3-1 and pushed its record to 16-0.
“Disappointing, but pretty pleased that we showed some character,” ASU coach Jason Watson said. “I feel like we’re in an okay place.”
The first set was relatively error-free for the Sun Devils. After Watson spoke at length on Friday about serving tendencies, there was just one ASU serving error in the set.
In addition, there were only six total hitting errors. Most came from Stanford blocks, of which the Cardinal had four assisted and one solo.
ASU faltered in set two as the team was outplayed defensively and in long rallies, and lost its touch on the serve.
“We got ourselves into this hole and part of it was we lost the serve-serve receipt battle,” Watson said. ASU had only nine digs in the set.
Stanford began slowing the tempo and relying on tips to get points. ASU was unable to respond, as multiple floaters over the outstretched fingers of Sun Devil defenders landed just behind them and out of the reach of a diving back row defender.
Junior setter Bianca Arellano said this was due to how high the middles received the set. The Sun Devil defenders anticipated the ball being hit sooner.
“We were jumping a little bit too early and they would catch us on the way down,” Arellano said.
The front row was unable to deflect it and the back row was too slow adjusting.
Watson said that a reason they weren’t able to adjust is that senior setter Shannan McCready, who plays in the back row, was out with a concussion after colliding with junior middle blocker Whitney Follette at practice.
Follette didn’t play today either. It wasn’t a result of the collision at practice. Watson simply feels like she’s not at her normal play level yet.
In sets three and four, the Sun Devils rediscovered lost energy and made a push “defensive in nature,” Watson said.
They fell behind 7-14 in set three but fought back by winning long points. In perhaps the longest rally of the night, junior outside hitter Macey Gardner attempted four kills. The first three were masterfully dug out by diving Stanford defenders, but Gardner finally found room, got the kill and cut the deficit to 21-22.
The next two ASU hit attempts were blocked, and Stanford junior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku got the game-winning kill two serves later.
Ajanaku and the teams' block differential were the biggest takeaways of the night. Stanford had 20 total blocks. ASU had 11.
Ajanaku finished the match with 14-kills, matching Gardner for the most of the night. She epitomizes the two-quick play style Stanford uses. The middle leads the team in kills with 185 and is hitting a remarkable .495.
She hit just .250 today. Watson said this was a testament to how well his middles played.
“Mercedes did about as good a job as I’ve seen somebody do on their middles,” Watson said.
Binns altered Ajanaku’s shots and deflected them well, Watson said, and he was “really pleased” with Binns’ and Lowrance’s efforts in the middle.
ASU started the fourth set strong and looked like they may force a set five.
It was a back-and-forth set with ASU leading 11-10, but ASU’s mistakes began reoccurring and costing them. A dig wasn’t received well and was deflected out of bounds for a Stanford point. Defenders allowed a pair of hits to fly over their heads, thinking the ball would be out of play, but they skimmed the baseline and resulted in Stanford points. The tip kills came back to haunt ASU, who found themselves trailing 18-23.
The end was fitting for the match. An errant ASU dig left players diving for the ball but were unable to come up with it cleanly. ASU fell 18-25.
Watson said the length of the rallies was a crucial turning point. ASU realized it would be important, but the team needed to finish more rallies strong.
“When you go into a match like this against a team that plays the game pretty clean, those margins end up not being on your side,” Watson said. “I thought game one and three we were able to… force the rallies to go long and hold on and be clean on our side. We just, I think, as a theme, need to be better at that moving forward.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
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