(Photo: Blake Benard/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils were swept by the Oregon Ducks in Eugene 25-17, 25-21, 25-15.
In the first set, the Ducks, played efficiently offensively, pacing the set with a large lead throughout. Upon ASU head coach Jason Watson’s first timeout, the Ducks had only one error to go with their 10 kills. The offense was evenly distributed between the team as six hitters recorded a kill.
The Sun Devils seemed unable to stem the tide in the set. They were able to cut the lead to two but the Ducks ripped off a 7-1 run to win the set.
Where the Sun Devils struggled was passing. The team had 16 digs in the set but some poor passing kept them from translate digs to points. In addition to that, serve receive continued to be an issue as the Ducks had three aces in the set.
The Ducks continued their offensive prowess in the second set. After hitting .343 in the first set, the Ducks raised that average to over .400. Three Oregon hitters recorded five kills led by Martenne Bettendorf who had eight of her own forcing another Sun Devil timeout.
The Sun Devils did not have any visible offensive flow. Aside from junior BreElle Bailey’s seven kills and no errors and junior Cassidy Pickrell’s efficient four kills, the Sun Devils sputtered offensively.
Defensively the Sun Devils were not playing up to their ability. The team, which had been known for it’s blocking only recorded four total through two sets. Everything seemed to be falling for the Ducks, as they had 21 kills in the set and 36 for the match.
In the end, the Sun Devils seemed to be worn out from two grueling five set matches last weekend. In the third set they looked out of gas and Oregon capitalized jumping out to an early eight point lead.
The Sun Devils would struggle to keep the deficit under that margain. Eight attacking errors resulted in a 19-9 Oregon lead.
ASU would finish with nine errors in set against 10 errors. Meanwhile, the Ducks had 13 kills and only one error.
Three Oregon hitters tallied double-digit kills led by freshman outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weid’s 12. The Ducks, as a team, hit nearly .400 for the match.
Bailey was the lone Sun Devil hitter with double-digit kills as she tallied 11 and sophomore libero Halle Harker led the Sun Devils with 15 digs
The Sun Devils last match of the season will be Friday against Arizona and will be the teams final chance to impress the selection committee. The match will be on the Pac-12 Networks.
