It has become a cliche that the student becomes the master or the mentee becomes the mentor but the cliche proved true Sunday as Jason Watson's ASU team beat Montana State, a team coached by Dave Gantt who gave Watson his break in the industry.
In the late 1990s, Montana St. head coach Dave Gantt hired a new coach under him. Coming out of BYU, Jason Watson had never had a paid coaching position.
“It turns out I liked it,” he said of coaching.
Watson said that during his stint at MSU, Gantt taught him a simple lesson: Watson did not know everything about coaching come out of college. The head coach mentored him in different aspects of the game.
“(Gantt) was very, very instrumental in enabling me, or mentoring me, to be sensitive to the fact that I didn’t know everything and to help me see how organizations, how teams, function and how coaching staffs should operate,” Watson said.
More than 15 years later, Gantt’s tutelage came to bite him. Now the head coach of Gonzaga, his Bulldogs were defeated by Watson’s No. 10 ASU women’s volleyball team.
It took a fair bit of coaching to defeat the Bulldogs.
After winning set one, ASU began struggling in set two. Gonzaga began finding holes all over the court that diving ASU players couldn’t get to.
Additionally, senior outside hitter Macey Gardner wasn’t involved. She didn’t get her first swing until ASU was trailing 14-10.
Instead of going to Gardner, ASU focused on senior middle blocker Whitney Follette and junior outside hitters BreElle Bailey and Cassidy Pickrell. At that point in the game, the three had combined for three kills and five errors on 18 attempts in the set.
Gardner got her kill on the attempts. ASU went on a mini-run but fell 25-20 in the second set.
Senior setter Bianca Arellano said that during the break, the team discussed two major components that cost them the set: guarding redshirt senior opposite hitter Savannah Blinn more effectively and the impact — or, lack thereof — of the Gonzaga middle blockers.
“They set her every single ball…they set their middle one time,” Arellano said, and junior outside hitter Kizzy Ricedorff held up a finger and emphasized “in two matches.”
Arellano said that the net defenders moved off the middle and focused on the pins. After set two, Blinn had been hitting above 40 percent and had a game-high 12 kills.
“We just told our pins to dip out (of the middle),” Arellano said. “If they do set the middle, we trust our middles to go one-on-one.”
ASU defenders got in better position. The back row didn’t allow as many balls to pass, and the front row began getting deflections.
Blinn finished with 19 kills and eight errors, hitting .268.
One play early in set three may have changed the tide of the game, and it involved a bit of coaching from Watson.
ASU had three deflections in the rally. Gonzaga returned the final one, which arched over the court and fell near the out-of-bounds line.
The referee ruled it in play. ASU, led by Gardner, argued it was out.
She pleaded her case to the official, but to no avail. A couple rallies later, Watson had stood up and was still talking at an official.
The head official called Gardner over and spoke to her, telling her that Watson received a yellow card.
“Jason’s looking for the red card,” Ricedorff joked.
Watson said his team did a good job on its on of keeping its collective cool.
“They’re enormously more mature than I am,” he said with a straight face.
ASU got on a roll after that, going on a 9-3 run before winning the set 25-14.
Ricedorff had four kills on nine attempts in the set. She finished the match with 11 kills on 22 attempts. She had no errors.
Watson said that Ricedorff’s connection with freshman setter Kylie Pickrell has blossomed and is working well.
“I’m happy for Kizzy that she is in this role than enables her to have quite a profound influence on the outcome of matches,” he said.
ASU’s record improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1992.
Gardner said the team’s reputation is changing from the last few seasons.
“People would say, ‘Oh, it’s just Arizona State. They’re going to play well, they might lose,’” Gardner said. “We’re no longer that team that might upset you. We’re the team that you want to upset."
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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