The ASU volleyball team begins its second tour of duty against Pac-10 competition when it heads to California to face No. 12 UCLA and No. 5 USC today and Saturday.
The results from the first meetings didn't go well for the Sun Devils (8-10, 3-6), as they fell in straight sets to both teams in early October at Wells Fargo Arena. However, ASU is hoping to learn from those matches.
"Once you've played them you know what their tendencies are, and you try to work around that," sophomore outside hitter Nicole Morton said.
ASU is trying to rebound from one of its worst weeks of the season. Heading in, the team had a chance to move above the .500 mark for the first time in almost a month when they faced NAU. However, the Sun Devils fell in straight sets to the Lumberjacks, and then lost to UA on Oct. 22 to fall to 8-10.
"It was a bad week," ASU coach Brad Saindon said.
The Sun Devils will face a daunting task in trying to get back on track against the Bruins and Trojans. UCLA is 6-3 in conference, and USC is not only 7-2 in the Pac-10, but they are also two-time defending national champions.
"Going to UCLA and USC on back-to-back nights in their home gyms, I can't think of another pair of matches in any conference that's harder than that," Saindon said.
After the weekend's games, the Sun Devils will have played nine of their last 14 matches against teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation.
The ASU coaching staff will have its first chance this weekend to test out a potential position change for two of its players.
Freshman Danielle Fernandes will be moved back to her regular position of middle blocker after being tried as an outside hitter, and Staci Smith will move from middle blocker to opposite. Neither player will be set at these new positions, as the staff looks for the most effective place to put them.
"Right now, we're training them at a couple of different positions and will probably make the final decision when we go into the spring," Saindon said.
If the Sun Devils win either of the two matches over the weekend, they will equal their win total for the conference season from last year. ASU finished 4-14 in the Pac-10 last season.
Reach the reporter at kyle.odegard@asu.edu.
