ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils wrap up road-swing against #15 Oregon
By Trevor Booth
The Sun Devils look to come back to Tempe with their first conference win as they take on 15th-ranked Oregon Saturday night.
After a tough loss to a hot Oregon State team last night, the Sun Devils will look to rebound as they travel from Corvallis to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks.
The Ducks are led by first-year coach Matt Ulmer, who’s made the most of his promotion after spending two years on the assistant staff.
Ulmer immediately made his mark on the program as his team upset then fifth-ranked Nebraska in their first match of the season, and he’s since led the Ducks to two more top-25 wins against Wichita State and Utah.
On the offensive end of the floor, the Ducks present a well-rounded attack with junior Lindsey Vander Weide on the outside and senior Taylor Agost on the opposite end. Together, the two have combined for a total of six kills per set.
With the consistent hitters on the corners of the floor, the Ducks are also able to open up an efficient middle attack with sophomore Ronika Stone, who is currently ninth individually in the conference with a .341 hitting percentage.
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Unlike many of their Pac-12 foes, the Sun Devils will be facing an opponent that lacks a renowned superstar. The Ducks find their rhythm as a team, and their go-to weapon will typically be a player that’s holding a hot swing or big block.
Although the Ducks find themselves in the middle of the pack in many statistical categories, the team does hold the third-highest hitting percentage in the conference at .264, while limiting their opposition to a .184 clip.
As they face a collective unit that’s used to going into deep sets against their opponents, here are some keys the Sun Devils will have to execute to come out with an upset victory on Saturday night.
Side-Out Early and Efficiently
The Ducks come into Saturday night’s matchup with quite possibly the conference’s best home-court advantage, holding a 9-1 record at the the Matthew Knight Arena this season.
With a loud and rowdy environment at home, the Ducks have been able to pull off several miraculous victories this season, including a grueling match in which they trailed two sets to one against Arizona last night.
The Sun Devils have struggled with lapses on the road, most recently in last night’s match against Oregon State. In a close fourth set, the Beavers took over with a 9-0 run, forcing the Sun Devils to pass poorly in serve receive and deplete their confidence for the rest of the match.
Against a team like Oregon, the Sun Devils can’t afford to fall in deep holes. If they allow the Ducks to move the ball around and retain possession of the serve, the familiar result of being blocked and struggling to find control could reappear once again.
Gain the Respect of Maggie Scott
With the multitude of weapons that Oregon setter Maggie Scott has at the net, she’s risen to the top of the conference standings with a consistent 6.11 assists per set.
For much of the season, Scott has had the ability to dissect defenses with her three-headed attack on offense, and in exchange, several opponents have had a tough time finding where the Ducks are going to set-up shop off of her sets.
Due to struggles that Nicole Peterson and her middle blockers have had blocking on the outside, the Ducks will most likely try to exploit their hitter in Weide to sky over the shorter blockers.
In their match against Oregon State last night, Peterson and Carmen Unzue were able some success in the block, but it came inconsistently. After a span where they recorded two blocks in three attacking attempts, they couldn’t connect much more, as OSU senior Mary-Kate Marshall went on to have a fantastic match with 22 overall kills.
Against the Ducks tonight, that outside block will once again look to be challenged and exploited by a very efficient hitting team. It’ll be up to Peterson, along with Unzue and Peyton Grahovac, to communicate well and time their jumps to force Maggie Scott to abandon her outside attack and be restricted on the offensive end.
Continuing to Have an Active Defense
Despite struggles that the Sun Devils have had in their blocking game, they do lead the conference in digs with 1,272 total on the year, allowing them to extend points and tire out opposing offenses.
A lot of pressure will be on Peterson and her middle blockers to block consistently, a tall task that may give them some struggles early on in the match. Like Oregon State on Friday night, the Ducks will look to work the ASU outside block, one that Coach Sanja Tomasevic herself calls “swiss cheese.”
In response, Halle Harker and the defense need to be ready to compensate for the shorter block by rotating down the line and adjusting to holes that could be present. Halle’s presence in the back-row is the heart and soul of this group, and when she’s been absent, the team’s ability to score fades out in response.
If Halle’s passing provides its normal spark, the Sun Devils will most certainly have a shot at dragging points out and testing the conditioning of Oregon. Assuming Halle can bring her amazing passing like she did against Utah last Sunday, it may frustrate her opposition and help the Sun Devils execute their own style of play, which is tiring out their opponents and winning points that provide consistent momentum.
With the conference season already reaching the halfway point, time is running out for the Sun Devils to make noise this year, and they’ll have to bring everything tonight if they want to upset an Oregon team that some consider a Final Four sleeper.
Next: ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils drop heartbreaking match against Oregon State
The Sun Devils and the Ducks will play the first serve tonight at 7 p.m. PST and the match can be viewed on the Oregon Live Stream.