ASU Volleyball: Devils look for first Pac-12 win against Cal
By Carson Field
After falling for the 11th-straight time on Friday against No. 2 Stanford, the ASU volleyball team will look to rebound against California.
The ASU volleyball team was once again on the losing side of the scoreboard on Friday, losing in four sets (25-22, 25-16, 21-25 and 25-13) to the second-ranked Stanford Cardinal.
ASU opened up the game to a solid first set, hitting for a percentage of .545, but the team’s hitting percentages diminished in each subsequent set, and the team even hit for an awful .000 in set four.
A scary moment for the Sun Devils is when sophomore Ivana Jeremic went down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. Interim head coach Carlos Moreno is hopeful the outside hitter will be available for Sunday’s match against California.
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“We don’t know what is going to happen,” Moreno said. “We don’t know what is going to happen. We hope she is going to be back and going for Sunday but we don’t know. If we don’t have Ivana, we’re not as fast, we’re not as effective on our system.”
Despite only recording two kills, Coach Moreno noted Megan Beedie as a player who played well in the match.
“Megan had a really good week on the right side,” Moreno said. “She has played on the right before, so we were expecting her to maybe be a little more aggressive, but overall she had a good night. We’re going to keep her on the right for Sunday.”
Despite ASU losing its 11th match in a row against the Cardinal, Coach Moreno is confident the team can defeat the Golden Bears.
“Against Cal, we have a really good matchup. I think our offense matches up really well with the way they defend,” Moreno said. “I think we have a huge chance of grabbing that first win over the weekend.”
While ASU has stolen sets from top teams like Washington and Stanford, the Sun Devils have been swept by unranked teams at the bottom of the conference standings. ASU will look to change that Sunday against an unranked Cal team.
“I think our hardest thing is keeping that motivation to play teams that aren’t as highly ranked,” senior Oluoma Okaro said. “Just give 50% of that effort against an unranked team like California, and I think we can win 3-0.”
Similar to ASU, California has struggled in conference play, for the team has a measly record of 3-8 in Pac-12 play, and the Golden Bears are on a two-game losing streak.
One Golden Bear to watch for in Sunday’s match is Antzela Dempi, who leads the Pac-12 in service aces per set with 0.49. Dempi also leads Cal in kills per set with 2.85.
Next: ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils lose Ivana Jeremic in loss to Stanford
Sunday’s match will begin at 11:00 a.m. PST at Wells Fargo Arena, and it can be watched on the Pac-12 Arizona.