ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils open up final homestand against #16 Oregon
By Trevor Booth
With senior night looming, ASU volleyball will open the first of their two final home matches of the season against the visiting Oregon Ducks.
Coming off of two tough losses to the LA schools last weekend, the Sun Devils are hopeful to send off their seniors with a pair of home victories, with their first match of the weekend coming against the 16th-ranked Oregon Ducks.
Last time the two teams squared off, the match was in Eugene, and the Sun Devils fought hard in two close sets before ultimately falling in three.
This time around, the Sun Devils know the challenges are going to be much similar against a very disciplined Duck squad.
“They have great athletes and a really fast offense,” coach Carlos Moreno noted. “We need to serve tough and get them out of system.”
In the match in Eugene, the Sun Devils recorded three aces in comparison to Oregon’s seven on the night. In response, the Ducks were able to go on several runs throughout the match, including a 9-1 spurt at the beginning of set two that disallowed the Sun Devils from capitalizing on great play throughout the rest of the set.
“We were right there,” outside hitter Ivana Jeremic recalled. “We’re gonna try to serve for a long time and sideout as soon as we can.”
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Siding out will be a huge factor, especially to neutralize Oregon in facilitating their attack like they did last month. The Ducks were able to go on some of their runs thanks to consistent hits from Jolie Rasmussen and Willow Johnson, two of five active Duck hitters that are hitting above .250 on the season.
Since their match against Arizona State, the Ducks have gone 2-2, tallying victories against Utah and California while dropping tough matches against Colorado and Stanford. Going into the homestretch of the regular season, the Ducks currently find themselves at sixth place in the conference with an 8-6 Pac-12 record.
One cause of concern for the Sun Devils in this match will be the status of star hitter Oly Okaro. Okaro has developed pain with a shoulder injury, and although she insists she’ll be ready, her availability for the match will be a game-time decision.
“She has a doctor’s appointment at 2 p.m. [on Thursday],” Coach Moreno said. “We just want to be careful with her shoulder, and we want to make sure we’re not going overboard to make it any worse; however, we expect her to start.”
Despite Okaro’s status being up in the air, Ivana Jeremic confirmed in practice on Wednesday that she’ll be ready to step back in for Thursday night’s match. Jeremic has missed three matches since suffering an ankle injury against Stanford two weeks ago.
“I’m staying focused as much as I can,” she said. “I’m going to try to be constant in helping the team passing-wise and making our setter run the offense that we want.”
With six matches remaining in the regular season, senior libero Halle Harker sits at 1,900 career digs, good for third in Sun Devil Volleyball history. Although recording 486 digs to become the all-time leader may not be feasible, Harker is well in reach of the #2 spot.
In order to pass Stephanie Preach (2,010 digs), Harker will have to record an average of 19 digs over the remaining matches, a number she’s eclipsed 18 times thus far over the course of the year.
With every ball that comes Harker’s way, expect a heightened sense of tension that’ll rise with every ball that ricochets off of her passing platform.
Next: ASU Volleyball: Bruins defeat Sun Devils in straight sets
The first serve between the Sun Devils and Ducks will be at 6 p.m. MT and the match can be seen on Pac-12 Arizona.