The Sun Devils' season came to an end this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena with their seniors fighting for one last playoff appearance.
After falling to No. 6 UCLA (20-10, 9-9 Pac-10) on Friday night, the ASU volleyball team (15-16, 7-11) was swept by No. 5 USC (25-4, 14-4) Saturday, putting it below .500 and out of contention for an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.
"I'm disappointed for my seniors who had to end their careers with a loss," ASU coach Brad Saindon said.
ASU went 0-2 this weekend despite playing some of its best volleyball early in this weekend's matches.
Saindon decided to start his six seniors in both matches, which seemed to give the team a boost against two of the nation's top volleyball programs.
"(The seniors) were playing hard and playing for one another," Saindon said.
Saindon said he has a special appreciation for this year's seniors because they chose to take a chance coming to a program in a rebuilding phase.
The class of 2007 is the first group Saindon recruited as the Sun Devils' head coach.
ASU senior libero Sydney Donahue, who is now fifth on the NCAA all-time list for career digs, finished with 54 digs and said playing with her fellow seniors one last time was special.
"It was awesome," Donahue said. "There's just that chemistry there and it was such a good feeling."
UCLA took down the Sun Devils in four games on Friday night 30-25, 30-25, 24-30 and 30-19 behind a balanced attack with five players in double digit scoring.
After losing the first two games, Saindon went back to his regular lineup and ASU junior outside hitter Margie Giordano threw down five of her 17 total kills to help get ASU back in the match.
The rally didn't last long however, as the Sun Devils hit for a .059 attack percentage while losing the final game.
USC senior All-American outside hitter Asia Kaczor paced the Trojans with 14 kills in their 30-26, 30-23 and 30-18 victory over the Sun Devils on Saturday.
ASU junior outside hitter Kristin Trayser led the Sun Devils in scoring with 10 kills while getting the start with her recruiting class.
"I just wanted to play my heart out with these seniors," Trayser said. "They're my girls, they're my best friends that I spent the past four years with and I owed it to them."
Reach the reporter at: devin.hicks@asu.edu.
