ASU Volleyball: Sun Devil offense struggles in loss to Colorado

ASU volleyball has now dropped five of their last six matches after a four-set loss to the Colorado Buffaloes in Tempe (25-21, 21-25, 22-25, 20-25).

The Sun Devil offense came out with power through the halfway point of second set. However, ASU seemed to fall off and later dropped three sets in a row after winning the first in their loss on to Colorado on Sunday afternoon.

In set one, ASU was playing a top tier match that made it look like they would sweep the Buffaloes at home. The Sun Devils came into the match with their new high-powered offensive game plan as Courtney Leffel started at libero, Nicole Peterson came in as the setter, Claire Kovensky and Ivana Jeremic came in as the outside hitters, Megan Beedie came in as a middle blocker and Alyse Ford was playing on the back line but played both offensively and defensively.

However, this offensive game plan proved to not be as effective as it was on Friday.

ASU battled hard and traded blows with the Buffaloes until they got on a small run and took a 17-14 lead. The Sun Devils ended up keeping the tide rolling as Ford ended with nine kills in the set and the Sun Devils took the first set 25-21.

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Going into set two, the Sun Devils kept the momentum going as they ran away with an early 15-8 lead. However, the Buffaloes did not quit as they bounced back and tied the game at 17 apiece.

The Sun Devils offense slowed down tremendously afterward.

“Honestly it was just a weird feeling on the court”, Ford said. “We just weren’t swinging, we just weren’t being aggressive. That first set we came out and did well, but couldn’t sustain it”.

As Ford noticed the offense plateauing, she tried taking over to help the team stay close. However, the Buffaloes held Ford and the offense enough in order to steal the set, winning 25-21.

Set three started with Colorado getting the first point and after that it turned into a catch-up game for the Sun Devils.

However, Ford carried the team in another set as the Sun Devils took an 18-17 lead. Ford was the main factor that kept the Sun Devils in the match as almost every offensive opportunity started heading her way.

This caused the Buffaloes to switch up the game plan and shut down Ford as best as they could. The Buffaloes held off the Sun Devils to win set three, 25-22.

The Sun Devils refused to let up as Ford did all she could do to keep ASU’s hopes alive in the match. The two teams battled as Colorado spread out their offense to keep ASU’s defense guessing. Justine Spann finished with a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs while Alexa Smith and Anyse Smith combined for 22 kills.

The whole ASU offense came through Alyse Ford today as she finished with a career high 29 kills compared to the rest of the team who combined for 28 kills. She also had one block, one ace and 15 digs.

“We wanted to run our middles as much as we can and get them comfortable to spread the offense,” Ford said. “It was at one point where I felt like someone needed to step up.”

“When you make 43 mistakes on the court, the momentum was hard to get into,” Tomasevic added.

Next. ASU Volleyball: Inconsistency and inexperience cause Sun Devils to fall. dark

ASU looks to bounce back in their third out of four straight home games against the Oregon Ducks on Friday. The Ducks are looking to get revenge as the Sun Devils swept them in Eugene earlier this season.

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