The Sun Devils’ winning streak came to an end Sunday afternoon as they lost a brutal contest to No. 10 Washington 3-1.
A first set win ultimately proved fruitless as the Sun Devils lost the next three sets in a row.
“We started out the match aggressive,” said associate head coach Carlos Moreno. “...When we play a team like Washington, we gotta execute all the time. We weren’t as aggressive, we weren’t serving as well.”
Senior Ivana Jeremic was unstoppable with a 10 kill and 13 dig double-double. Senior Nicole Peterson was a smooth facilitator, racking up a whopping team-high 24 assists, as well as five saves and eight digs.
Junior Andrea Mitrovic was sharp with 15 kills, four digs and three blocks. Senior Callie Jones made a big impact with her double-double of 11 assists and 12 digs. Senior Courtney Leffel helped with five assists of her own and 16 digs.
But those numbers weren’t enough to catapult the Sun Devils to a victory over the Huskies.
“I think we should have won…” Mitrovic said. “The girls came through when we were down so much (but we couldn’t get it done).”
The first set was evenly matched at first, with both teams exchanging blows. However, ASU started to pull away, leading 20-15.
The aggressive attack of Mitrovic and the Sun Devils left the Huskies gasping for breath, calling timeouts to no avail. ASU would not relent and won the first set in dominant fashion, 25-17.
The second set was a nail-biter, as neither team gained an advantage initially. ASU held a slim 15-13 lead midway through the set thanks to gritty defensive play from Peterson and others.
But the Huskies would not slow down and went toe-to-toe with the Sun Devils the whole set, taking a 21-18 lead late. ASU fought back to put the score within one, but the Huskies would prevail and win 25-22.
“It’s hard. They’re a ranked team. They’re a good team,” Jeremic said. “Yeah, we played well in the first set, but we should have played better in the second set too.”
The third set was a tough one for ASU, and a brutal one to lose. ASU got a taste of their own medicine as the aggressive game plan of Washington put them in a 10-6 deficit early.
ASU tried to hang on, finding themselves in an 18-15 hole, before winning five straight rallies to take a 20-18 lead. But the Huskies would ultimately win, 25-23.
“It’s a game of errors,” said Moreno. “At the end of the day, we had more errors than them (in those situations) ... we were in a tough spot and we weren’t being as patient as we should (have).”
In the fourth set, the Sun Devils were fighting to survive, staying in the fight but falling into a 16-11 deficit halfway through. With the offense seemingly out of gas, ASU tried their best to muster comeback, but it wasn’t enough as they lost the set 25-19, losing the match in the process.
ASU falls to 16-13 with the loss. The Sun Devils play USC next at home on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Reach the reporter at cvanligt@asu.edu and follow @Connor_VL on Twitter.
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