(Photo: Hannah Franklin/WCSN)
No. 10 Arizona State took on No. 12 UCLA this Sunday in Southern California. Coming off three straight losses, the Sun Devils could not find their rhythm as they were swept by scores of 25-21, 25-16, 30-28.
In the first set, the Sun Devils found themselves in an early hole, down 3-6. The Sun Devils could not climb their way out as UCLA saw its lead grow to six points at 14-8. The Bruins’ offense came out of the gate red hot, hitting an astounding .375. They were lead by junior middle blocker Claire Felix, who had four kills on her first four swings. ASU started to find its rhythm toward the end of the set as the Sun Devils were able to pull within two points at 21-19. The Sun Devils continued to put the pressure on the Bruins, but ASU head coach Jason Watson was forced to call his second and final timeout of the set when UCLA took a 23-21 lead. The timeout did not throw the Bruins off of their pace, though, as they were able to take the set by a score of 25-21.
Senior middle blocker Whitney Follette lead the Sun Devils in the first set with five kills on eight attempts as the senior amounted a hitting percentage of .500. Follette looked increasingly comfortable in her newly assigned role of opposite instead of middle. She would finish the match with 10 kills on 28 attempts.
The second set started out tightly contested as the two teams traded points until UCLA finally took a 5-3 lead. ASU struggled to find an answer for the Bruins attacking offense as UCLA extended its lead to 10-6. The Sun Devils called their first timeout when they saw the Bruin’s lead move out another two points to 12-6. The Sun Devil offense could not find any sort of groove as they hit with a percentage of .000 until this point in the set. The two ASU outside hitters especially found trouble trying to put the ball down. Freshman outside hitter Lexi MacLean and junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell combined for five kills on 22 attempts with 6 errors through the first two sets. ASU called its second timeout down 22-14. The Bruins had no trouble finishing off the set, winning by a score of 25-16.
ASU was having trouble containing the two Bruins middle blockers. Felix and junior Jennie Frager combined for 13 kills and zero errors through the first two sets.
ASU came out stronger in the third set as it quickly took a 5-2 lead over the Bruins. UCLA took its first timeout of the set when ASU extended the lead to 7-2. Junior right side BreElle Bailey helped the Sun Devils cause when she came alive in the third set. Bailey quickly had four kills in ASU’s first 11 points. UCLA called its second timeout when the Sun Devils pushed their lead to 15-7. The Bruins started to crawl their way back into the set when they pulled within four points at 17-13, forcing ASU to call its first timeout of the set. The Bruins push continued when they found themselves within one point at 19-18. UCLA was persistent, as the match continued to go back and forth, until UCLA took the set by a score of 30-28.
The next weekend for the Sun Devils will be at home on Friday against Utah and on Saturday against the Colorado.
If you have any questions or comments, you can contact Jacob Franklin via twitter @Jacob_Franklin4 or by email at jacobfranklin093@gmail.com
