Devils in Detail
Fansided

ASU Volleyball: ASU Gains Another Win Over Cal

By Samantha Sloman

Sep 3, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs during the first half against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky performs during the first half against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Tonight the Sun Devils gained their first home win of the season as they defeated the Cal Golden Bears with a final match score of 3-0.

The Sun Devils started off very strong in the first set, keeping a margin of five points between themselves and Cal. Maya McClendon was on fire during the first set giving the Sun Devils four kills. Along with McClendon, junior middle blocker Oluoma Okaro came out on top tonight as well with five kills during the first set. ASU kept their communication intact throughout the entire set, which helped them gain the first set win with a final score of 25-22.

Cal had a lot more errors than ASU did within the first set. Cal had a total of seven errors while ASU only had four. Most of ASU’s errors within the first set were net violations.

During the second set, ASU managed to keep their game and communication strong. The Sun Devils were leading the entire second set with a constant four-point lead. The Bears started to catch up towards the end of the second set, but the Sun Devils held them off with two kills from Lexi MacLean. The Sun Devils finished off the second set with a final match score of 25-22.

ASU had a rocky start to the third set by allowing Cal a four-point lead. The Bears continued to hold off the Sun Devils up until the middle of the third set, yet the Sun Devils played great defense which brought them both neck and neck half way through the third.

More from Devils in Detail

The Sun Devils came back during the last half of the set with three strong kills from Okaro. The Sun Devils finished off the bears with a final match score of 25-21.

Okaro elaborated on the team’s work ethic tonight and how their mindset changed their playing.

“I think in general winning two games and coming back in the third game is always hard. It’s hard to keep that mentality and keep going forward, and I think that showed in the begging. But once we realized that we were up 2-0 on our home court I think that’s what trigged our minds to allow us to finish the game,” said Okaro.

Head Coach Mussie shed some positive light on the team tonight with their first home season win.

“I think anytime you get a first win after six losses in a row you’re hungry. When you beat someone on their home court they’re going to come into the match extra upset. So you have to be prepared for that and that’s something that we preached towards the girls. I think it was everybody tonight was saying ‘enough is enough’ and pulled through to gain the win,” said Mussie.

The conference season is coming to a close and the Sun Devils have a short turn around next week taking on the Colorado at home in Tempe, AZ.