After three weeks of being tossed around and beaten up by the competition, it was the ASU volleyball team's turn to be the bullies on Friday, ending its five-match losing streak with a three-game sweep of Oregon at Wells Fargo Arena.
Freshman middle blocker Colette Meek snapped out of a funk with 14 kills -- including seven in the second game alone -- to lead the Sun Devils to the 30-23, 30-24, 30-22 victory.
"It's been frustrating lately, obviously, since we've been struggling a little," Meek said. "But it feels good to pull this one out."
The win moves ASU to 9-13 overall and 4-9 in the Pac-10 conference. Both win totals equal last year's output, with five matches still left to play this season.
"We needed this match just for our sanity," ASU coach Brad Saindon said. "That ties our conference record from last year, so we have a chance to improve on that and hopefully we can do it."
The Sun Devils began the match slowly, falling behind 8-4 in game one. They rebounded quickly, scoring seven unanswered points to take an 11-8 lead. ASU kept the pressure on, scoring six of the next nine points and coasting to the victory.
The Ducks kept the score close through the first part of game two and took an 11-10 lead, but a 10-3 run gave the Sun Devils a cushion en route to the victory. Meek had seven of the team's 20 kills in the set, and added a solo block for eight points.
"She had seven kills in seven swings; you can't get much better than that," Saindon said. "For some reason, her and [setter] Rachel [Mittelstaedt] hooked up a lot better tonight."
The second game was by far the best statistics-wise for ASU, as the Sun Devils had a .529 hitting percentage. Freshmen middle blockers Staci Smith and Danielle Fernandes were also perfect in the set, combining for four kills in four attempts.
The Ducks had a .231 hitting percentage in the game, with 15 kills and six attack errors.
ASU used a late 6-0 rally in game three off the serving of freshman libero Sydney Donahue to sew up the match victory. Meek and sophomore outside hitters Nicole Morton and Nina Reeves had four kills each in the third game.
The win sets up an important test for ASU on Thursday, as the team will head to Pullman, Wash., to take on the Washington State Cougars. The match, which will be televised nationally on a tape-delayed basis on Fox Sports Net, will be the Sun Devils' best shot at surpassing last season's win total.
"Thursday night is a really big match for us," Saindon said. "Washington State is really a hard place to play."
The Sun Devils defeated WSU in five games earlier this year at Wells Fargo Arena.
ASU will face four nationally ranked teams to close out the year after the match with the Cougars.
Reach the reporter at kyle.odegard@asu.edu.
