The Sun Devils last pair of matches away from Wells Fargo Arena are now the most important of the season.
With postseason possibilities on the line, the ASU volleyball team (15-12, 7-7 Pac-10) is traveling to California to take on No. 4 Stanford (24-2, 13-2 Pac-10) tonight and No. 6 California (20-6, 10-5 Pac-10) on Saturday.
This weekend's matches are the first half of a four-match stint against teams ranked in the top 10, as next week the Sun Devils will welcome Southern California powerhouses No. 10 UCLA and No. 8 USC.
At least one upset win against the Pac-10's elite over the next two weekend's should solidify ASU's second straight trip to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament.
The Sun Devils have won four out of their last five matches, including an upset win over No. 14 Oregon, a team they are now ahead of in the conference standings.
Last Wednesday, ASU's duo of outside hitters, freshman Sarah Reaves and junior Margie Giordano combined for 31 kills in the Sun Devils 30-28, 30-28 and 30-27 sweep of UA in Tucson, rebounding ASU from a sweep it suffered to No. 5 Washington on Nov. 2.
The Cardinal spent last week snapping UW's 39-game winning streak in a drawn out, 30-23, 24-30, 30-25, 21-30, 15-10 win in Seattle behind Cardinal outside hitter Alix Klineman.
The freshman Klineman had 21 kills against the Huskies.
Reaves and Klineman have proven to be the conference's most prolific freshmen scorers this season.
Both newcomers come into tonight's match in Palo Alto, Calif., sitting fourth and fifth respectively in kills and total points in the Pac-10.
The match will be the first time the freshmen face each other, as Reaves was out with an ankle injury when the Cardinal swept ASU on Oct. 19 at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Golden Bears enter the weekend reeling after UW snapped their four-match winning streak on Friday.
Winning 10 of their last 12 matches, Cal has rose in the national rankings while holding opponents to a conference-best .137 hitting percentage.
Teams have trouble scoring on the Golden Bears because of the strength in their middle front line, which is furnished by middle hitters senior Ellen Orchard and sophomore Kat Reilly. The pair sit first and third, respectively, in total blocks in the Pac-10.
Orchard and Reilly were not much of a factor defensively on Oct. 18 the last time they faced ASU.
The Sun Devils took game one but fell in the subsequent three games after Reaves twisted her ankle.
Reach the reporter at: devin.hicks@asu.edu.
