No. 13 ASU reminded the Pac-12 what it can be as a volleyball program in a 3-0 win (25-14, 25-17, 25-23) over Utah.
“It’s good to be home,” Watson said. “(Our fans) are becoming a factor… (and) it gave us another day to prepare”
ASU experimented with lineups due to the injuries to senior outside hitter Macey Gardner and junior opposite hitter Kizzy Ricedorff.
At one time in the first set, four of ASU’s on the court were new to the team this season. None of the six on the court were seniors, remarkable for a team that’s graduating four seniors who start when healthy.
Freshman middle blocker Jasmine Koonts started. Watson said he planned to start her last week, but her concussion forced him to start senior Andi Lowrance instead. Watson said Koonts plays more physically than Lowrance.
“She can jump and she can do some things, and I feel like Kylie can get her the ball in a zone that allows her to go hit,” he said.
Additionally, middle blocker Whitney Follette saw time on the left side as well as the right.
“(MacLean) was doing really well blocking on the right side during the week in practice so we just switched for that,” Follette said.
ASU got out to a quick start, going on an 8-1 run and playing near perfect. Utah players weren’t able to stop ASU’s hits the way highly ranked Pac-12 teams are, and the Sun Devils took advantage.
In the first set, ASU hit .286 and had four hitting errors.
Additionally, Utah’s serve receipt was inconsistent. The Utes had two service errors before it had scored three points as a team. ASU was able to hit aces as well; Follette had two junior Cassidy Pickrell had one. The team had five total.
“One of our goals for the week was just to serve at your target and to drive it,” Pickrell said. “That was also one of our tasks for this game.”
Utah ended with one ace and ten service errors.
The Utes came out strong in the second set. The defense was more adept at stopping ASU hits, and the Sun Devils hit just .156 in the set. With the score tied at 8, ASU pulled out a 5-0 run and eventually jumped to a 20-12 lead.
ASU won 25-17; for the second set in a row, Utah ended on a service error.
Utah scored nine consecutive points near the beginning of the third to take its first lead of the match and go ahead 8-12.
ASU responded with a 10-3 run.
Utah tied the match up at 22. Its sophomore outside hitter Adora Anae had seven kills in the set.
She had two kills total in the first two. Those sets were a huge change from last year’s performance.
“We served at her a lot when she was in the front row to just kind of take her out of that hitting spot,” Follette said.
Follette counteracted Anae’s efforts, pushing ASU to a 25-23 victory with two late kills.
She finished with 10 kills. Bailey had nine and Koonts tied her career high with five on a .444 hitting percentage.
Koonts said that her reaction time was slow at practice, but she thought the game was her best career performance.
“It was refreshing,” she said. “Today felt good.”
ASU won its first match since before Gardner got injured.
“It allows the athletes to get a return on not only the practice but also the emotional thing,” Watson said. “It’s taken us a long time to move on.”
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
