ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils look to stop skid at Washington schools

After getting losing both home matches against Oregon and Oregon State last week, ASU volleyball hits the road to face Washington and Washington State.

Before losing seven of their last eight matches, the Sun Devils were ranked 25th in the nation. After dropping sixth straight, ASU is now ranked 76th in the RPI rankings and is looking to bounce back against the Washington schools this weekend.

Washington:

What to expect: This will be a rough match for both teams as the Huskies are also looking to bounce back after dropping six of the last seven. Washington is sitting just outside the AVCA poll and is led by Kara Bajema who got 17 kills when these two teams faced off. Last time the two teams faced off, ASU swept the Huskies due to the middle blockers.

Key Stat: Kara Bajema is ranked in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in kills, kills per set, points and points per set. ASU leads the Pac-12 with total digs at 1431 digs and digs per a set at 16.64. This can cause the Sun Devils to have more attacking chances and have opportunities to strike on another struggling team. During the losing streak, ASU is averaging 31.8 errors a game causing the team to allow their opponents to take momentum and win sets.

X Factor: The X factor for the Sun Devils will be the middle blockers. Recently, the Sun Devils have been relying on Alyse Ford, Ivana Jeremic, and Claire Kovensky. However, when ASU beat the Huskies, Carmen Unzue had 8 kills and Megan Beedie had 7 kills. Washington will need Bajema to show up as well as Destiny Julye who finished with 7 kills for the Huskies against the Sun Devils.

Washington State:

What to expect: The Cougars are on fire and plan to keep rolling as they are on a four-game winning streak. Washington State comes in at 18th in the recent rankings, but have currently looked like the second best the team in the Pac-12, just behind No. 2 Stanford. The Cougars swept ASU, but ASU is stronger on the road since they don’t have to deal with tension at home. ASU did steal a win against Oregon on the road earlier this year and plan to steal another one against the red hot Cougars.

Key Stat: In the Pac-12, Washington State is ranked in the top five in blocks, aces and opponent hitting percentage. The Sun Devils have been starting hot in the first set, but the hitting percentage falls off after the first set during the losing streak. The Sun Devils will need to keep momentum. ASU is ranked last in the Pac-12 in kills per a set which is not a good matchup on the stat sheet for the Sun Devils.

X Factor: The experienced leaders for ASU will need to take over this game to help the young team. Halle Johnson will need to keep hustling and have a great defensive outing, Ford and Jeremic need to find the holes in the defense, and the middle blockers will need to have 2-on-1 blocks against the Cougars. The Cougars need McKenna Woodford and Taylor Mims to start hot and put the Sun Devils down early. They combined for 21 kills last time and will need to put up those numbers again for a win.

The first match starts on Friday at 7 p.m. in Seattle against Washington. The next game will be Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 18 Washington State.