No. 20 ASU volleyball rebounded from suffering its first loss at Wells Fargo Friday, clinching a win on Sunday that could prove vital in NCAA tournament voting.
Washington State pushed ASU to the brink of the fourth set before ASU won 3-1 (26-24, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23).
The standard threshold to qualify for the tournament is 20 wins. Now at 18, ASU won't face as much pressure in its final six matches, three of which come against ranked teams (two in top-10).
Mercedes Binns said the win over the Cougars was a critical next step in the team's postseason plans.
"One of the most important matches that we've had just because of where we stand right now," she said. "If we would've lost this i think it would've set us back a lot."
Cassidy Pickrell is beginning to come alive at the right time. She had 17 kills on a .255 hitting percentage and is playing more consistently.
Additionally, her defense has improved drastically. She finished the match with a career-high 21 digs, catching some balls at awkward angles and pancaking multiple attempts in the second set.
"We knew that they were very heavy on their outside hitters," Pickrell said. "Our block did a really great job in shutting them down so they starting tipping a lot more and that opened it up for Lexi and I to get more digs."
She began the game by giving WSU the first point, when she allowed a serve to go past her that landed inbounds.
It was the beginning of a period of dismal play from ASU.
ASU didn't get its first dig of the match until Washington State led 8-3. At that point, the Cougars only had three kills. The other points came from ASU attack errors, two ASU service errors and Holt's ace.
Pickrell began taking advantage of opportunities. She had five kills on 13 attempts in the set.
ASU got its first lead of the match at 23-22.
Freshman outside hitter Lexi MacLean finished the set with consecutive kills.
MacLean had the best game of her career. She finished with 13 kills and 14 digs, her first double-double.
She said she had some motivation from Friday's match in which she had one kill and two errors on seven attempts.
"Friday was just awful for me, and it was all mental," she said. "Today, I was in the play every time, and if i made a mistake i was like, 'Whatever, i've got the next one' kind of mentality."
BreElle Bailey has taken steps to lead the offense. After a 6-1 WSU run to cut its deficit to 20-19 in set two, the ball went back to Bailey. She had five kills in the first set, but she wasn't seeing as much action in the second.
She got a kill, giving ASU a two-point lead and pushing them to a 25-21 set two victory.
After last match, Watson said he wanted her to have more attempts. She had 36 today, a high number for someone he said is often used defensively on the right side.
ASU was on its way to a sweep, leading 17-11 in the third, before the Cougars caught fire.
Beginning with Pickrell's fourth service error of the match, the Cougars embarked on a 12-2 run.
"Our serving and passing kind of broke down," senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns said.
In the match, the Sun Devils had 11 service errors. It had seven on Friday.
ASU dropped the set 25-23.
The Sun Devils continued their hot streak, winning the first four points of the fourth set.
Lots of hard hits ended up in jousts above the net. Binns put on away to give ASU a 15-14 lead.
She had four kills in the set, 12 in the match and hit .409 on 22 attempts..
"Her and (freshman setter) Kylie (Pickrell) have been working really hard on that relationship," Watson said. "Tonight, I thought they were really good."
The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the fourth. Kylie hit a late service error, her fourth, and the ninth by a Pickrell, but MacLean finished the match with a kill.
"I don't know why I doubt them, but they've always been really resilient," Watson said. "Perhaps you just have to be in this conference."
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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