(Photo: Matt Harden/WCSN)
After splitting last weekends matches against the Washington schools, the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils travel north to Boulder to take on the unranked Colorado Buffaloes.
On the year, the Buffaloes are 14-12 and 6-8 in Pac-12 play. The record indicates an average team, but the record is in no way indicative of this Colorado roster.
This is a team that already beat then No. 7 Stanford when the two teams met in Boulder, and there is a lot of talent on this team.
To start, freshman middle blocker Naghede Abu is a defensive force for the Buffaloes. When the Buffaloes traveled to Tempe earlier in the year, Abu had 11 total blocks and wreaked havoc on the Sun Devil hitters.
In addition to Abu, there is also senior outside hitter Alexis Austin. Austin leads the team in kills per set at nearly four per set and will undoubtedly be a focal point of the offense.
For the Sun Devils, they need to build of the momentum gained from the match against Washington State last Sunday.
In the match, ASU had 82 digs as team, 21 of which came from junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell. To go along with Pickrell’s 21, freshman Lexi MacLean also added 14 digs of her own. The Sun Devils have always been an solid defensive team and will need to be against Colorado.
In addition to her 21 digs, Pickrell also added a match-high 17 kills. She played very well over past weekend and her continued production will be huge for the Sun Devils going forward.
Another aspect of the Sun Devils’ game that has faltered in the past couple weeks is their serving. Over the weekend, ASU had over 20 service errors which is far too high.
Their ability to serve the ball will be essential in this match. Colorado at home is a very good team, and the Sun Devils can’t afford to give away points on unforced errors.
The match is set for 7 p.m. Thursday and can be seen on the Colorado live stream.
