ASU Volleyball Preview: Sun Devils take on Cal in Berkeley

ASU volleyball looks to conclude their Bay Area road trip with their first conference win of the season against the Golden Bears of California.

After falling in a lopsided match against Stanford, the Sun Devils look to snap their three-match losing skid with a win against California on Friday night.

Throughout their first three conference matches, ASU has looked significantly outmatched, struggling to keep up with a well-coached Arizona team as well as two of the best teams in the country in Stanford and Washington.

After entering Pac-12 play with one of the conference’s most consistent offensive units, the Sun Devils have since faltered, dropping to 10th in the conference in hitting percentage (.251).

Despite leading the conference in total kills at 746, ASU hasn’t been able to sustain control of the points their potent hitters bring forth. The Sun Devils are currently 10th in the conference with 2.19 blocks per set, and are last in the Pac-12 with 0.83 services aces per set, which limit both possessions and the ability to go on runs.

Even though they’ve struggled of late, the Sun Devils possess an opportune chance to break their woes against a Cal team that seems to be failing to find a consistent team identity. Let’s take a look at the Bears’ season up to this point.

A Tale of Two Halves

In their non-conference portion of the schedule, the Bears cruised through most of their opponents, stamping a 9-2 record that was boosted by an eight-match winning streak at one point.

During these eight wins, the Bears showed poise in tight matches, finding the ability to win matches in which they dropped early sets.

Since their hot streak, Cal has gone ice cold, dropping three straight matches where they’ve won a combined total of only two sets.

More from Devils in Detail

Despite having a 9-4 record overall, the Bears have proven to be one of the weaker statistical teams in the conference. They currently are dead last in opponent hitting percentage (.210) and blocks per set (1.58), and are 11th in digs per set (12.94).

While showing struggles as a team, the Bears do possess one of the conference’s best players in senior outside hitter Antzela Dempi. She currently is 10th in the conference for individual hitting percentage (.345), and possesses an aggressive serve which has her at second in the conference in service aces per set (0.52).

In moments where the Bears have been on edge, Dempi has shown to be cool under pressure, and is often the go-to hitter when Cal is in need of a point.

Dempi’s outside efficiency is joined by the efforts of upperclassmen Christine Alftin and Carmen Annevelink, who have used their experience to lead the way for contributions from freshmen Preslie Anderson and Mima Mirkovic. 575 of the 639 Golden Bear kills this season have come from that core five.

Like the Sun Devils, the Golden Bears are led by a new head coach in Matt McShane, who is taking over the reins from long-time coach Rich Felley. McShane is returning to the program after being an assistant coach in the program from 2005-2009, where he helped lead the Bears to a Final Four in 2007.

Much like themselves, the Sun Devils will be taking on a young team that’s looking to establish a name for themselves now and in the future. Here are some keys to victory for Friday night:

Get Everybody Involved Early

No matter which opponent the Sun Devils have played this year, the team works best when their whole offense is involved in the attack. The recent past serves great memory to that. In last Thursday’s match against Washington, ASU failed to emerge victorious despite 30 kills from Oluoma Okaro.

Likewise, in Palo Alto the other night, the statistical leader in kills was only able to produce eight, and the Sun Devils weren’t able to string together an efficient method to put points on the board.

In their best victories so far this season, the offense is shown to flow best when at least three players have 10+ kills in a match. Due to their potent attack, the Sun Devils have seen this feat accomplished by several players outside the normal starting lineup at some point this year.

Whether the setter be Nicole Peterson or Shelbie Dobmeier come Friday night, they must find all of their main three hitting options in Ivana Jeremic, Okaro and Griere Hughes, along with Megan Beedie, Peyton Grahovac, and Carmen Unzue once they see the court.

Ball Control

Although the Sun Devils will be facing a team that won’t block as well as their first three opponents, they must must be ready for the tough serves that will be coming their way.

Cal is in the top half of the conference in service aces per set, showing a proficiency to find multiple holes in the serve receive of their opponents. Rather than facing tough hits in transition, the Bears will try to attack the Sun Devils once they possess control of the serve.

Although Halle Harker has shown a proficiency to pass well in serve receive, Courtney Leffel and the other back-row pieces must be ready to move around more in order to find solid passes for their setters.

If the Sun Devils capitalize on these serves, they should be able to set up their offense easily and move towards keeping Cal on defense.

Play With Confidence

Even though the Sun Devils were up two sets to none against Washington last Thursday, they seemed unable to retain their swagger, looking much more uncomfortable as they proceeded to drop three straight sets in that match.

After mistakes made in sets three and four, ASU wasn’t able to keep their heads up. They seemed to harp on some of their mistakes, and it resulted in worse ball control and more frustration as the sets went along.

Likewise, against Stanford, the Sun Devils seemed relatively quiet communication-wise even after having the opportunity to capitalize off of Cardinal mistakes in the third set.

In another road match, it will be as important as ever to stay positive and have encouragement flowing from one teammate to the next. The majority of this job will be at the hands of Halle Harker, who needs to motivate her younger players to stay with every point and keep them focused on winning no matter what happens.

By keeping a positive attitude and playing with confidence, the Sun Devils will be able to play with a sense of urgency and extend runs for a longer period of time.

Next: ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils fall to Stanford in three sets

The first serve between the Sun Devils and the Bears will be at 7 p.m. PST and can be streamed on the California Live Stream.