Cougars sweep Sun Devils in women’s volleyball

By Scott Mammoser

TEMPE, Ariz. – Coming off a three-match winning streak that culminated with an impressive sweep at No. 12 Oregon, the Arizona State volleyball team struggled in its home conference opener, falling to No. 22 Washington State in three sets, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-17.

Photo by Scott Mammoser

ASU (12-5, 3-2 in the Pac-12 Conference) was in the also receiving votes category of the national poll this week after the win at Oregon, its first over a ranked team in two years and first over the consistent Ducks since 2014.

“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” ASU coach Sanja Tomasevic said. “I’m disappointed how we came out. They were hitting 33 percent in transition, which is a really high number, and we were hitting 2 percent. That’s a big difference.”

The Sun Devils responded to the opening set loss with a 7-0 start to the second set, only to allow the Cougars (12-3, 3-2) to capitalize on seven of the next eight points. ASU was ahead 16-11, before WSU returned on a 6-0 run and won 25-21. There was little room for regrouping in the third set, with WSU cruising to a 17-11 edge and 25-17 victory.

 “I was proud of how they responded,” Tomasevic said of the week in practice. “I was worried after beating Oregon about keeping them on the ground, but they actually didn’t talk much about that. They were dialed in, getting better at things they needed to get better. 

Whenever we play at home, we feel like we have to do something extra, and we just have to play the game we play on the road.”

Megan Beedie led the Sun Devils with nine kills, while Alyse Ford collected eight. Nicole Peterson had 15 assists for ASU, plus Courtney Leffel recorded 15 digs. On the WSU side, McKenna Woodford and Taylor Mims had 11 and 10 kills, while Ashley Brown tossed 32 assists.

“Last season, not winning a single Pac-12 game,” Ford said, “then coming off a win like Oregon and coming home, we have to show everyone who is a Devil fan, we just need to simplify, play smart and hard volleyball.”

ASU won its first five matches this season and dropped the conference opener at Arizona, 3-0, prior to the wins over California, Oregon State and Oregon. The next game will be at noon on Sunday at home against No. 15 Washington, the school Tomasevic led to a national title as a player in 2005.

“We need to stick to our blocking assignments,” Megan Beedie said. “Everything we scouted out, we need to stick to that.”