ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils Unable to Finish off No. 21 Oregon
By Alec Henden
After 14 straight road games to open the season, the “Road Warriors” of Arizona State University’s women’s volleyball team finally came home.
Despite a warm reception to the tune of 4901 fans, the Sun Devils were unable to put away the No. 21 Oregon Ducks, dropping the match 21-25, 25-17, 26-24, 9-25, and 7-15.
ASU jumped out to an early lead but struggled down the stretch as the Ducks won the final two sets to extend their winning streak to 10 games.
Despite a strong opening crowd and a two sets to one lead, the Sun Devils couldn’t overcome the height and talent of the Ducks.
Coach Stevie Mussie put it very bluntly in her post-game press conference.
“We’re definitely not ready to compete at a high level. We can say that we’re so close, but at the end of the day it’s about who you are,” said Mussie.
Mussie also added that the end of the match struggles came down to the lack of execution by the team.
“We couldn’t pass the ball and we started serving a lot easier, that was the biggest change between sets two and three, and four and five,” said Mussie.
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Sophomore outside hitter Lexi MacLean was one of the stars of the night for the Sun Devils in her long-awaited return from a nagging hamstring injury, leading the team with 13 kills and a respectable .233 attacking percentage.
MacLean believes the outcome of the game was determined by inconsistency.
“I thought we were good at times, and it was pretty good but when it was bad it was really bad,” said MacLean.
Freshman outside hitter Ivana Jeremic had an impressive home debut, stuffing the stat sheet with 12 kills and leading the Sun Devils in attacking percentage at .360. Jeremic, originally from Serbia, also made strides during post-game interviews answering all questions without a translator.
“I’ll try to find the good parts of my game tonight, it was my first game in front of this amount of people and I look to improve,” said Jeremic.
For Oregon, the star of the night was junior outside hitter Taylor Agost who recorded 14 kills and an astounding .429 hit percentage.
After a rollercoaster of a third set that left ASU up 2-1, Oregon made adjustments in the lineup that changed the game entirely, resulting in dominant scores of 25-9 and 15-7 for the fourth and fifth sets.
Next: ASU Volleyball: A Temporary Halt in the Road Trip
For the Sun Devils, the team will look to regroup at home against the Oregon State Beavers Sunday morning before another four-game road trip. Sunday’s match can be seen on Pac-12 Arizona.