ASU head coach Jason Watson paused.
"25-10 and we're playing at home?"
He shrugged, frustratedly thinking about the score of the final set of the match. It was his first time sitting in front of the ASU backdrop in a room full of media this season where he had to prepare to evaluate a defeat.
No. 20 ASU's first home loss came against No. 3 Washington in three games (17-25, 22-25, 10-25).
"It was this contrasting match where a team that certainly is playing really well right now ... and a team that's struggling to find an identity and so we're two, kind of, polar opposite teams," he said.
ASU played decent the first set. The second was strong. It fell apart in the third.
While the front row killed ASU last time it played Washington, the back row was its bane the time around.
Sophomore outside hitter Tia Scambray hit .444 off ten kills; senior libero Cassie Strickland beat ASU without attacking.
Her serve may be the most powerful in the Pac-12. It's very similar to Bianca Arellano's last year: a jump serve that would rocket to the defense and would either require a difficult receive, or result in an error.
Arellano said it spun a little, and compared it to junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey's serve.
"It's always something that's a little bit unexpected," Arellano said. "You just have to let it come to you. ... It's coming really fast, but that's the only thing you can do."
ASU did a good job limiting her damage off the serve. Her only ace in the first two sets came was actually hit up by junior libero Mia Mazon. Miscommunication between junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell and Arellano allowed it to land meekly between the two.
"We were definitely not on our mental game," Arellano said. "We honestly didn't play that bad of volleyball."
In addition to the miscommunication, ASU had two net violations in the second set alone; it had seven service errors, and senior middle blocker Whitney Follette hit the antenna twice.
Mazon entered after freshman opposite hitter Lexi MacLean struggled to dig.
She played well and started the third set. She only had one dig, but her serve receive was a driving force in the second set push. She dove several times to pick off serve.
"Our block was channeling our ball to left back and we just weren't digging some stuff in left back," Watson said. "We put Mia in hoping that she could create some of that kind of stuff."
Strickland was also on the ground for what seemed like the majority of the match. She wouldn't let ASU hits touch the ground.
In the first set alone, she finished with eight digs. She finished with 18.
"It's definitely frustrating," Pickrell said. "You just have to keep finding open spots and play longer and be better longer and that was something that they did better than us tonight."
She started the first set strong on both ends of the net. She hit has powerful as she has all season, and even featured a slide kill when her sister set her.
She finished the set with five kills on 10 attempts and one error.
Defensively, she dug better than she had in the season.
The Huskies' offense was on fire, though. Though it ended the set with a pedestrian .235 hitting percentage, it hovered around .310 until they led 22-13.
Washington won the set 25-17.
Pickrell started the second set slow, but ASU was defending better. A Follette block cut the deficit to 19-20, and Washington was hitting just .133 in the set. Washington took its first timeout of the match.
It won the next two points and won the set 25-22.
Pickrell had three early kills in set three, taking ASU to a 5-4 deficit. UW finished the match on a 20-6 run.
Washington hit .429. Senior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon had five kills.
ASU is now 11-1 at home.
"Every loss sucks," Pickerel said. "It doesn't matter if you're home or away."
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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