ASU beach volleyball is preparing for a new slate of games, kicking off the season with the inter-squad Maroon and Gold scrimmage Friday.
The Sun Devils finished last season with a 7-12 record. This year, ASU was met with replacing former head coach Jason Watson on Feb. 3 after he announced his move to the University of Arkansas. ASU landed former Penn State assistant coach Stevie Mussie, in which ASU athletic director Ray Anderson found “sincerity, passion and experience."
Since announcing her acceptance of the coaching position in early February, Mussie has already made an impact.
“She’s totally awesome,” sophomore Sydney Palmer said. “She’s super spunky and seems into it and she’s going to fire us up this season. We’re excited.”
With Mussie absent during Friday’s scrimmage, interim head coach Jacquelyn Bunker led the team and commented on the growth shown throughout the matches.
“I definitely think it’s a totally different team,” she said. “We had so many kids training all year in just beach volleyball and Whitney [Follette] and Bianca [Arellano] came out in January, so we had 11 just training beach. We definitely know the game a lot better than we did last year.”
Friday's inter-squad scrimmage saw an injury scare. Taking on freshman Jourdan Parnell and junior Mia Rivera, the Pickrell sisters, freshman Kylie Pickrell and sophomore Cassidy Pickrell, took the court together for the first time. However, this moment was short lived when Cassidy injured her elbow when Kylie attempted to block the ball. They weren't sure exactly how the injury occurred, but Kylie thought Cassidy might have knocked the elbow on the net or on herself.
“She has a high pain tolerance so when she stopped and had a look, I knew something was wrong,” Kylie said. “And sure enough, she went back, taped it up and came back out.”
While Cassidy's mind remained competitive, her injury pulled her back out of the game after just one play. This led to a partner switch early in the night when freshman Natalie Braun stepped in. Ultimately, the pair pulled off a win at the end of the night.
While Braun and K. Pickrell’s similar play styles mesh well, K. Pickrell hopes for more court time with her older sister in the future.
“I’ve never actually gotten to play with her, so it’s a different experience trying to learn how to play with each other,” Pickrell said. “I hope everything works out so we can keep playing together.
No specific injury has been announced, however it appears to be a hyperextension, K. Pickrell said.
Not only did K. Pickrell make her debut, but the duo of freshman Bethany Wedepohl and junior Madison Berridge joined her. The two weren’t let off easy for their first matchup, as they faced ASU’s No. 1 pair, juniors Bianca Arellano and Whitney Follette. Losing 21-7, Wedepohl commented on her their performance.
“I was nervous at first, and it happens that it’s my partner’s first game, too,” Wedepohl said. “We came out and we were a little bumpy at first, but I think we finished pretty strong."
Starting their official season next Friday, March 4, the Sun Devils will host the Sun Devil Challenge, anticipating South Carolina, Colorado Mesa, New Mexico and Florida State.
“Next week's game, we just need to come out with more fire,” Wedepohl said. “When we finish with fire we win, but we just need to start with it.”
Editor's note: Due to a reporting error, Cassidy and Kylie Pickrell were misidentified. It has been corrected.
Reach the reporter at ncorr@asu.edu or follow @natalieorr19 on Twitter.
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