The ASU volleyball team starts one of its toughest stretches of the season today as the team takes on nationally ranked Stanford and California on the road.
ASU head coach Brad Saindon said the team has to steal at least one win this weekend to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. ASU would need to go 6-2 to end the season and remain eligible, and has to play four teams ranked in the top nine the next two weeks.
In matches earlier this year against the two Northern California teams at Wells Fargo Arena, the Sun Devils were swept by the No. 9 Cardinal and took only one game from the No. 6 Golden Bears, something Saindon and his staff are hoping to avoid.
"Our game plan is pretty much the same [as] it was; we just need to play better within that plan," Saindon said. "I don't think we have to do anything different - we just have to do it better."
Both teams are led by explosive outside hitters. The Cardinal's big gun is Ogonna Nnamani, a second-team All-American last year. The junior is a kills machine, averaging 5.35 per game.
California has its own star in Mia Jerkov. The Croatian standout is leading the conference and is fifth in the nation with 5.92 kills per game and has been named Pac-10 Player of the Week four times this year.
"There are some players you just can't defend," Saindon said. "It's kind of like Michael Jordan is going to get his 30 [points], and you got to try to eliminate the rest of the scorers."
Injury update
Outside hitter Natalie Harris is still battling a stress fracture in her left leg but says she'll be able to play this weekend. Harris had X-rays Wednesday that revealed no further damage.
Harris leads the team and is currently fifth in the Pac-10 in kills with 4.16 per game.
The news isn't as positive for senior Kim Mehlhorn. The outside hitter needed a cortisone shot for her right bicep tendon on Monday following the Arizona match. Mehlhorn was limited to three kills in only two games and did not take a swing in practice until Thursday.
If Mehlhorn can't go, true freshman Nicole Morton is expected to take her spot in the rotation.
Senior Jodi Proctor began to practice again Tuesday for the first time all year. She experienced some expected soreness in her legs. She said she is not certain if she will play again this year or if she will take a hardship redshirt and play again next year.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu.
