ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils fall just short against No. 15 USC

No. 25 ASU volleyball took No. 15 USC down to the wire but fell short as the Trojans prevailed in five sets (25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 9-15).

Arizona State traveled to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans in a showdown between two Pac-12 teams in the top 25. After a long and emotional match, the Sun Devils fell in five sets (25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-23, 9-15).

After falling behind two sets to one, the Sun Devils battled hard to steal the fourth set 25-23, forcing a fifth set. This was only the second conference game that went past three sets for ASU this season.

In the fifth set the Devils came out a little slow and made too many mental errors. They allowed the ball drop too much for it being a fifth set and seemed as if they were already defeated.

USC junior Khalia Lanier was too much for the Devils throughout the match as she led the Trojans to their fifth Pac-12 win of the season.

In the first set Lanier struggled and had a hitting percentage of zero. Lanier and her teammates made the necessary adjustments and she finished the match with a team leading 29 kills. She was able to improve her hitting percentage to .274 for the match.

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Lanier was able to effective by attacking from multiple positions on the court. The majority of her attacks came from the outside position but where she was causing problems from was the back row.

The Trojans were great at hitting from multiple angles to keep the Sun Devils guessing every point. Lanier got multiple kills by swinging from straight away in the back row. She used her incredible athleticism to take off from the attack line, take a great swing, and land right near the net. She was often hitting against no block as the Sun Devils were caught off guard.

Jasmine Gross also was a problem for the Sun Devils as she would run a swing attack from the middle position. She was capable of hitting cross, line or even down the middle. Gross finished with eight kills and was a big factor in helping the Trojans win sets.

For Alyse Ford this was more than any regular match. Ford spent her first three seasons playing for the Trojans before transferring to ASU this past offseason. Ford came out with energy and was a spark for the Sun Devils. She had 12 kills including the set winning kill in the first set.

Both teams played with a great hunger to win the match. Neither team would let the ball hit the floor and bodies were flying everywhere. Every swing was with power and had bad intentions.

The Sun Devils dropped their second straight match after getting into the AVCA Top 25 poll for the first time since 2015.

Next. ASU Volleyball: Sun Devil offense struggles against UCLA. dark

ASU returns home next weekend to host the Utah Utes and the Colorado Buffaloes. The Sun Devils will look to bounce back after dropping three of their last four matches and get back in their winning ways.