By Brian Gomez
TheSunDevils.com
Faced with the prospect of playing three top 10 teams in the next eight days, Arizona State's volleyball team doesn't have much time to think about what could have been Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
On Friday, the Sun Devils will try to shrug off a 3-0 loss to No. 4-ranked Stanford when they host No. 9 California, which is unbeaten through its first 12 games this season and has been pushed to four sets only three times.
The arduous road doesn't stop there, though.
ASU travels to Los Angeles next weekend for matches against top-ranked Southern California and No. 8 UCLA. Dating back to last season, the Trojans (12-0, 3-0 Pac-10) have won 24 straight matches. The Bruins (10-2, 2-1) have been virtually unstoppable this fall, losing only to USC and No. 2 Hawaii.
The three-match stretch looks quite intimidating to outsiders, but the Sun Devils are ready to handle the pressure from within.
"Every night we've got to tee it up and we've got to be good," ASU head coach Brad Saindon said. "The players like it. They've played volleyball their whole life to be able to do this, to be able to play matches like this."
Executing better serves and passes and making fewer unforced errors will be focal points for ASU (6-7, 1-3) against an explosive California team (12-0, 4-0) that has made a habit of putting opponents away early behind junior outside hitter Mia Jerkov.
Sun Devil senior middle blocker Mandy Stephens will attempt to slow Jerkov, while also trying to assume a more active role in the offense. She'll be backed by freshman Tierra Burnley and freshman Katie Wilson, who returned to practice this week from a sprained ankle.
The Sun Devils received increased production Thursday from junior outside hitter Natalie Harris, especially during a 30-24 loss in the opening game. Harris finished with 16 kills, nine digs and two blocks on a .333 hitting percentage.
"I'm to the point where if I'm over, I'm just going to swing every single time," said Harris, who ranks first on the team in kills (194) and service aces (23) and third in digs (120). "That's going to be my game plan from now on -- to go down swinging."
Senior middle blocker Kim Mehlhorn also shined in the first game, rattling off three unanswered points to trim Stanford's lead to 21-15. In the second game, senior outside hitter Juliana Escobar provided some energy in part of a seven-kill performance.
Having already played then-No. 14 Washington and then-No. 22 Arizona last month, ASU will have faced all six of the Pac-10's top 25 teams by the time it returns from Los Angeles next week. California, USC and UCLA pose some of the more daunting challenges, given the fact that they're 34-2 overall and 9-1 in Pac-10 play.
"Any time you're in the Pac-10, you're in for an upset," Harris said. "Stanford was very beatable tonight, and we could have beaten them if we would have played our game. For Cal, it's the same thing. If we come out and play our game, we can beat Cal."
Reach the reporter at brian.gomez@asu.edu.