On Oct. 4, senior outside hitter Macey Gardner broke the record for all-time kills at ASU. She was named AVCA Player of the Week on Oct. 6.
Three days after the award was announced, she collapsed after a hit during a match against Washington and did not return that night or the following match against Washington State.
On Monday, the news broke that she had torn an ACL in her left knee and would be out for the season.
“It’s a big blow,” Watson said. “We suffered not only with our play on the weekend but emotionally.”
Gardner was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
Kizzy Ricedorff missed Sunday’s match against WSU because of numbness in her right hand. She said that she hadn’t been able to feel her pinky and ring finger, but when she began to lose feeling in her thumb, she knew she couldn’t play.
“I don’t really have a spatial recognition of where my hand is,” she said.
It’s the second time she has felt renewed pain since receiving an ulnar nerve transposition in December of 2012.
Last year against WSU, Ricedorff collided with then-junior setter Bianca Arellano and jammed her shoulder into its socket.
“That’s kind of when initially the nerve started getting pinched,” Ricedorff said.
She has felt a little tingling in her hand since, but she said it was nothing serious until Sunday against the California Golden Bears.
Ricedorff played against Washington on Friday and said, "It was horrible.”
She didn’t play on Sunday. She practiced in the back row on Tuesday and didn’t take any swings.
She is being assessed on a day-to-day basis and expressed uncertainty on whether or not she’d be able to go this week against No. 1 USC and No. 12 UCLA.
Two injuries on the same weekend is a huge blow to ASU. Ricedorff has experience playing on the left side, which could provide ASU with a solution to Gardner's inkury.
Ricedorff has only played on the right side this season.
“It’s like riding a bike, it’ll come back to me if I do have to play (on the left),” Ricedorff said.
She doesn’t expect to be put on the left side, though. She mentioned other hitters ASU has that could be inserted into that spot.
One is freshman outside hitter Lexi MacLean. Originally planning to redshirt the season, she was thrust into the WSU match in set two.
She played extremely well, accounting for eight kills and 10 digs in an otherwise dreary afternoon for ASU.
“She made a huge debut, swinging awesome,” Ricedorff said.
Watson was not specific when talking about plans for replacement, but he said he hopes to continue playing in the 6-2 system. ASU went to the 5-1 for the first set against WSU before losing 14-25 and moving back to 6-2 in set two.
“At this point there’s lots of things that we’re looking at,” he said. “We would like to stay in the 6-2.”
Watson said now the “glimmer of hope” that Gardner’s injury wasn’t as severe as expected is gone, players are “stepping up.” He said Tuesday’s practice was one of the best ones they’ve had in the last month.
Sophomore Halle Harker has seen her role increase over the last year, and it can be expected that she’ll be more vocal without Gardner on the court.
Harker said Gardner’s still helping from the sidelines, though.
“She has done as best as she can to be that teammate on the sideline letting us know what’s open,” Harker said. “She’s been just as big a role as anyone else on the team.”
Related Links:
No. 5 ASU women's volleyball struggles without Macey Gardner, swept by Washington State
Macey Gardner injured in No. 5 ASU women volleyball's first loss of 2015 season
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