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ASU Volleyball: Devils face No. 2 Stanford in search of first Pac-12 win

By Bo Wilkinson

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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ASU volleyball is still in search for their first conference victory as they head into play against a Stanford team that is currently No. 2 in the nation.

Coming off a weekend series in Oregon where the team lost two matches against Oregon, and Oregon State, ASU volleyball is still in search for their first conference victory as they head into a weekend against a very difficult Stanford team.

Due to travel concerns for Sanja Tomasevic, assistant coach Carlos Moreno has stepped in as interim head coach for Arizona State and has managed to maintain the sense of familiarity around the team.

“You know nothing has really changed so we’re doing the same things over and over again, we want the girls to keep the same system,” said Moreno. “We’re trying to meet the standard in order to win the Pac-12, we’re going to have to play at a high level all of the time.”

In last week’s series in Oregon, Arizona State was swept by Oregon and lost 3-1 to Oregon State. Despite the losses, the team has maintained a sense of positivity despite their winless slate in Pac-12 play.

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“Against Oregon State, we had a really good match. I think the girls are really improving overall,” said Moreno. “Right now, we’re not focusing on the scoreboard or our record, we’re focusing on getting that one percent better every day.”

Stanford has had the total opposite of a season compared to the likes of Arizona State as they enter the match with a record of 17-2 and an undefeated Pac-12 record of 10-0. They enter the match with a national spotlight on the team as they are ranked No. 2 in the nation as on the other side of the net the maroon and gold will have nothing to lose.

“Stanford is going to be kind of a challenge for us, they are ranked No. 2 in the nation right now,” said Moreno. “First, we need to serve well, the good part is we have nothing to lose being the underdogs, if we stay aggressive the whole match not only serving but hitting as well, we might surprise them.”

Some key matchups will be Arizona State’s ability to shut down the offensive tandem of Kathryn Plummer who averages 4.58 kills/set and setter Jenna Gray who averages 11.62 assists/set. The duo accounts for much of the team’s offensive game plan and will be pivotal for the Sun Devils to shut down in order to pull off the upset.

For the Devils, the key will be to put the pressure on early and often against a team that can quickly pull away in a match. Arizona State will need contributions from not only their star players in Oluoma Okaro and Halle Harker but will need assistance from the supporting cast in order to exit Friday’s match with a victory against one of the nation’s top teams.

Next: ASU Volleyball: Devils lose to Oregon; still winless in conference

“Stanford is a really hard team to beat,” said Okaro. “We’re going to have to go hard, hit high and deep, playing them we just have to give it all we’ve got and not hold anything back.”