The ASU volleyball team fell in a pair of road matches last weekend, and its window of opportunity to make the postseason is closing.
The Sun Devils (15-14, 7-9) challenged two of the nation's elite volleyball programs, losing to No. 4 Stanford in three straight games Friday before being swept by No. 6 California on Saturday.
Sitting on the bubble for an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, the Sun Devils failed to get a much-needed upset win that would have all but guaranteed them a slot.
The Cardinal (26-2, 15-2) took out ASU 30-27, 30-24 and 30-14 before sweeping Arizona on Saturday to clinch their 11th Pac-10 Championship.
Stanford freshman outside hitter Alix Klineman won the battle of the conference's top freshman scorers against ASU freshman outside hitter Sarah Reaves, finishing with 16 kills, two solo blocks and an assisted block Friday night in Palo Alto, Calif.
Reaves was the Sun Devils' top scorer with 10 kills, but was the only player to score in double figures as the Sun Devils hit for a team .134 attack percentage.
Hitting for .379 on the attack, the Cardinal had four players, including Klineman, in double figures scoring while the team held the ASU attack at bay with 58 kills and 12 total blocks.
The Sun Devils only got the better of Stanford serving the ball, with ASU senior middle blocker Staci Smith getting three of the Sun Devils' six service aces.
Facing their second straight nationally ranked opponent on Saturday, ASU fell to the Golden Bears (22-6, 12-5) 30-27, 34-32 and 30-22.
Reaves and Smith each had 12 kills in the loss but couldn't withstand Cal's explosive outside hitter Angie Pressey, who had 15 kills.
After dropping game one, the Sun Devils went on a 3-0 scoring run to open game two.
ASU pushed Cal to an 8-6 lead in game two before both teams began going back and forth — exchanging the lead seven times and forcing 19 tie scores before the Golden Bears were able to escape with the game and eventually the match.
The Sun Devils will have two more shots at recording an upset this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena, when they welcome No. 8 Southern California on Friday and No. 10 UCLA on Saturday.
Reach the reporter at devin.hicks@asu.edu
