The quest to find win number one in conference play for ASU volleyball will continue as the Sun Devils lose to Cal in four sets and drop their 12th straight conference match.
Set one was owned from start to finish by the Golden Bears who won the set 25-14. During that first set, Cal hit at .355%, which showed off the efficiency that the Golden Bears displayed in the first set.
The Sun Devils did not have much going their way after hitting at only .071 with 7.1 passing percentage. Even though Okaro did have four kills it wasn’t enough to lift the Devils past the Bears in the set.
ASU was able to bounce back and take set two behind the offensive play of Griere Hughes who picked up 6 kills in the set as the Devils won 25-22. When asked about the aggressiveness the Devils played with in set two this is what interim head coach Carlos Moreno said this:
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“If we are aggressive all of the time we can play against anyone and when we were not aggressive we made Cal’s block look like a monster which their not so that is what happened.”
In the third set, the Sun Devils fell just short as the Golden Bears came away with the 25-22 set win. When the Devils went down 8-3 in the set coach Moreno called a timeout and coming out of the timeout ASU went on a 7-1 run to go up 10-9, in the end, they were not able to hold on and close out the set.
The fourth set was all Cal as ASU was no match for the Bears in set four. Cal started off the set on a 6-0 run and never looked back winning 25-11. The Sun Devils struggled from the get-go hitting for a -.229 percentage in the set.
When asked about what this team needs to do moving forward for the Devils senior libero Halle Harker had this to say:
“It has to do with our internal state of mind and our mindsets as a team and as individuals,” said Harker. “Moving forward we just have to regroup as a team and we need to hold each other more accountable on the court and in the locker room.“
Ivana Jeremic sat out due to an injury that occurred against Stanford but Coach Moreno was positive on her recovery saying that hopefully, she would be able to travel to California this weekend.
Next: ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils lose Ivana Jeremic in loss to Stanford
The Devils will be back in action next weekend as they take on USC next Friday and UCLA next Saturday both on the road.