Following an 0-2 start to conference play, the ASU volleyball team lost its third game in a row, falling to No. 2 Stanford.
After two dismal performances at home to begin Pac-12 play, the ASU volleyball team once again lost, dropping its third game in a row to the Stanford Cardinal, who are ranked second in the AVCA poll.
Stanford got off to a hot start in the first set, starting with a 15-7 lead. The Cardinal won three service aces in a row late in the set to extend the lead to 22-9.
The Cardinal eventually went on to win the set 25-12, and the team hit for an outstanding hitting percentage of .600 in the set, while the Sun Devils hit for a measly .045 with seven errors.
Set two was well contested by the Sun Devils, as the match was 11-9 at one point. Merete Lutz recorded her 1000th kill of her career for the Cardinal in the set to give Stanford a 15-11 lead.
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Stanford eventually pulled away and won the set 25-18.
The Cardinal and Sun Devils went back and forth to begin set three, for the match was tied 8-8 at one point. The set remained close as it continued, as the Devils and Cardinal were tied 24-24 near the end of set three.
Stanford eventually escaped the set 26-24, completing the sweep of Arizona State.
Peyton Grahovac led the Sun Devils in kills with eight, and Oly Okaro followed closely behind with seven.
On the other hand, Kathryn Plummer led Stanford with 13 kills. Plummer, who stands 6-foot-6, was the AVCA Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2016.
The Sun Devil defense struggled in the match, shown by the team’s six reception errors and the fact that they allowed four service aces, compared to Stanford’s one reception error and one service ace allowed.
Not only was ASU outmatched by Stanford on defense, but the Cardinal offense was also much more impressive. Stanford hit for an efficient .442 hitting percentage, compared to ASU’s subpar .227 percentage. The Cardinal also had more kills and assists, and fewer attack errors.
With the loss, ASU drops to 10-5 (0-3) and last in the conference, while Stanford is now 10-2 (3-0) and first place in the Pac-12.
Next: ASU Volleyball: Takeaways from the first two Pac-12 games
ASU’s quest to win its first Pac-12 game continues Friday at 7 p.m. PST against the California Golden Bears, who are 9-4 overall and 0-2 in conference.