ASU volleyball split its last weekend of home play with a 3-1 win over the University of Colorado on Friday and a 3-1 loss against the University of Utah on Sunday.
Colorado
The Sun Devils opened the weekend on Friday at Desert Financial Arena against the Buffaloes. The win marked the team's first season sweep of Colorado since 2011.
The Sun Devils took the first set with a score of 25-16 before dropping the second set with a score of 25-20. The team took the third and fourth sets by a close margin of 25-22 and 27-25, respectively.
"I really wasn't crazy about the flow of the game," head coach Sanja Tomasevic said.
Although the Sun Devils came away with the win, the team saw room for improvement. The Sun Devils had 23 hitting errors throughout four sets, a number too high for Tomasevic's liking. Tomasevic would like to see the team capitalize more on free ball opportunities.
"That should be a no-brainer for a team of our level to finish on free balls, so that is something we're going to emphasize," Tomasevic said.
Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic led the Sun Devils with 26 kills and four aces.
"We get the most points and production from her," Tomasevic said.
Sophomore outside hitter Marta Levinska shone with 19 kills, one block and 20 digs. Levinska has been working to improve her defensive game and saw that work pay off against Colorado.
"It's just having the mindset that nothing falls, stay disciplined and trust what the coaches are saying," Levinska said.
Utah
The second half of the weekend saw the Sun Devils drop their senior day game to the Utes on Sunday at home.
The Sun Devils dropped the first set 26-24 before dominating the second set 25-15. The Utes then stormed back to win the third and fourth sets 25-20 and 25-18, respectively. Sunday's loss completes a season split with the Utes.
"It's tough to beat a good team twice, and that's one of those moments that just happened with us," Tomasevic said.
Isanovic once again led the team in kills with 20, with Levinska close behind with 14. However, it was not enough as ASU lost out in every category except blocks, with 10 over Utah's nine.
Fifth-year libero Jamye Cox was faced with many emotions on her senior night, and the rest of the team helped her to focus in on the game at hand.
"It's letting go of a chapter of my life, but going out there and seeing the girls and the drive that they have, you instantly focus," Cox said. "It was hard at first, but as soon as we started playing and I had them with me, it was super easy."
The Sun Devils' focus now shifts to their final four regular season games, all played on the road.
"We have four more games in front of us that are super important, so just moving on, letting it go and realizing that volleyball is a game of mistakes, a game of winning and losing," Cox said.
The Sun Devils will travel to Los Angeles to take on UCLA on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. MST and USC on Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at kfield4@asu.edu and follow @kathrynfield_ on Twitter.
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Kathryn Field is a sports editor at The State Press. Kathryn has previously worked as a full time reporter at The State Press, covering women’s basketball and lacrosse.
