(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
No. 20 Arizona State suffered its first home loss of the season to the No. 3 Washington Huskies in straight sets 25-17, 25-22, 25-10.
As has been the theme over the past few weeks, the Sun Devils switched things up and went back to the 6-2 offense after running the 5-1 against California last week.
The first set saw the Sun Devils keep the deficit close but were never able to get over the hump. Factor in seven total errors, and the Sun Devils found themselves down 20-11 in the set.
Senior setter Bianca Arellano talked about how the energy of the team was off from the very beginning of the match.
”We were definitely not on our mental game,” Arellano said. “Not going for balls and letting balls drop and all these mental errors that we made was kind of affecting us.”
Ultimately the ASU lost the first set 25-17. In the set the Sun Devils hit under .100 in the set, with that number significantly weighted by junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell’s five kills and .400 hitting percentage.
Washington is an elite defensive team, and it showed in the set. Countless Sun Devil swings were dug – especially by senior libero Cassie Strickland, who had eight in the set. In total, the Huskies had 16 digs in the set to go along with two blocks.
In the second set, the Sun Devils increased the defensive intensity. By the media timeout, ASU had already forced five Washington errors and added two solo blocks from senior Whitney Follette.
The Sun Devils kept the set close, and out of a Washington timeout, ASU lost the first two points, one of which came via a communication breakdown.
With the Huskies at set point, the Sun Devils were able to stave off the loss for a couple points but fell again in set two by a score of 25-22.
Overall, the set was encouraging for the Sun Devils. They forced seven errors defensively and offensively they raised their hitting percentage into the .100’s. Pickrell continued to anchor the otherwise stagnant ASU offense.
The wheels fell off the bus in the third set for the Sun Devils. Washington’s defense stepped up once again and the Sun Devils were unable to find any holes in the Husky defense. Strickland finished with 18 digs.
Pickrell talked about how the Huskies’ defensive effort got into the the Sun Devils’ heads offensively.
“It’s definitely frustrating when the other team keeps digging your balls,” she said. “But you just have to keep finding open spots.”
ASU now has to look ahead to Sunday against Washington State and Pickrell echoed how the team quickly needs to put this match in the rear view.
“You have to have a short-term memory in this sport,” she said. “Not really forget completely but build upon it.”
Building upon this is key for the Sun Devils as seven matches remain in the regular season. The match against Washington State is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday and can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks
