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ASU Volleyball: Inconsistency and inexperience cause Sun Devils to fall

By Nicholas Zeller-Singh

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 was swept by Utah on Friday night (27-25, 25-23, 25-18), extending their match losing streak to three. The team looked inconsistent and slow against a fast paced Utah offense.

The Sun Devils were looking to bounce back at home against the Utes, but ASU started the match slow as they fell 10-4 in the first set.

Although the team finished with 49 digs, those digs didn’t come until later in each set. The team seemed frustrated and angry as they showed it on the court. Many other attempted digs were sent over the net for a free ball to the Utes, or the Sun Devils lost control and couldn’t save the rally with the digs.

The defensive issues, however, started with poor serves. ASU finished the match with a total of seven service errors.

“Our serves were really bad,” said coach Sanja Tomasevic. “It was served pretty easy, so when we serve easy, it made it tough for our blockers because they always had three hitters in the front row as they made it tough for our blockers to be where they were supposed to be. So, they had a good position of hitting one on one or one in a half blocking”.

The serves caused middle blockers Megan Beedie and Carmen Unzue to struggle throughout the night as well as the rest of the team who only finished with two blocks.

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The inconsistency continued because the team was not fulfilling their roles. The main reason that they don’t exercise their roles is because the Sun Devils are still a young team that is learning every week. The inexperience showed.

“When they need to take a swing, they tip and that just comes with experience and leadership,” Tomasevic said.

The lack of efficiency and confidence caused the Sun Devils to finish with a .178 hitting percentage.

One last problem was the team was thrown off early and the inexperienced young team seemed they were not able to bounce back. Tomasevic herself said her girls’ faces were so pale when she called a timeout. She noticed something was wrong with the team.

“They didn’t think they were fine and they said for them, the game was going fast,” she said.

However, Alyse Ford finished with a tremendous night as she turned on the jets in the second set and could not be stopped by the Utes from then on. She finished the night with 14 kills and a .293 hitting percentage. Tomasevic changed the game plan a bit as she used Ford to attack at the back line in the middle which seemed like it can be useful in the future.

Next. ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils fall in straight sets to Utah. dark

ASU looks to bounce back against Colorado (11-8, 3-5) at home on Sunday at 2 P.M. The match will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.