TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State volleyball team (10-8, 0-6 Pac-12) had another tough top-15 match-up with the No. 15 USC Trojans (13-4, 5-1 Pac-12) Saturday night in Wells Fargo Arena, battling to four sets but ultimately falling, 25-19, 19-25, 20-25, 22-25.
"I think we're getting better. I really do," said head coach Sanja Tomasevic. "If we go back to pre-season right now and play all those pre-season teams, we're not losing those two matches we lost, we're not playing any close games or anything like that. So I think we're getting better. We're maturing at certain positions, like now when the game is over, instead of having so many things to work on we don't know where to start, we have two or three things to work on and get better this week. So we'll address two or three things before we play next weekend and get better at those, but at least we got better and now we're just going to build on that and add something else."
Junior Carmen Unzue had a career night as a Sun Devil, recording 13 kills on .571 attacking, besting her previous career high (11) she set in Oct. 2015. She also had six blocks to tie her career high, two of which she stuffed all by herself.
"I loved the way Carmen came into this match," Tomasevic said. "She didn't have a good week of practice and she didn't play well last weekend, and her challenge was last night she didn't start and she came off the bench and did well so today she got a chance to start again and she just did it all. That's what I want from my middles."
Senior Oluoma Okaro added 13 kills, now with double-digit kills in 16 of 18 matches this season. Sophomore Ivana Jeremic and freshman Griere Hughes each contributed nine kills.
Freshman Shelbie Dobmeier and sophomore Nicole Peterson split time at setter, posting 20 and 22 assists, respectively. Senior Halle Harker recorded 22 digs to bring her career total to 1,749. Sophomore Courtney Leffel added 14 digs, just two shy of her career high from Sept. of this season.
For the Trojans, Brittany Abercrombie had 18 kills while Niki Withers added 15 of her own.
Up next, the Sun Devils remain in sunny Tempe to take on No. 25 Colorado and No. 17 Utah on Friday, Oct. 13 and Sunday, Oct. 15 in Wells Fargo Arena. The match against the Buffs will be at 7 p.m. PT while the Sun Devils will take on the Utes at 1 p.m. PT. Both matches will be broadcasted live on the Pac-12 Network.
Match Notes
Kills: Unzue (13), Okaro (13), Johnson (1, career high!)
Attack Percentage: Unzue (.571; 13K, 1E, 21A)
Digs: Harker (22), Leffel (14)
Assists: Peterson (22), Dobmeier (20)
Blocks: Unzue (6; 2BS, 4BA)
"I think we're getting better. I really do," said head coach Sanja Tomasevic. "If we go back to pre-season right now and play all those pre-season teams, we're not losing those two matches we lost, we're not playing any close games or anything like that. So I think we're getting better. We're maturing at certain positions, like now when the game is over, instead of having so many things to work on we don't know where to start, we have two or three things to work on and get better this week. So we'll address two or three things before we play next weekend and get better at those, but at least we got better and now we're just going to build on that and add something else."
Junior Carmen Unzue had a career night as a Sun Devil, recording 13 kills on .571 attacking, besting her previous career high (11) she set in Oct. 2015. She also had six blocks to tie her career high, two of which she stuffed all by herself.
"I loved the way Carmen came into this match," Tomasevic said. "She didn't have a good week of practice and she didn't play well last weekend, and her challenge was last night she didn't start and she came off the bench and did well so today she got a chance to start again and she just did it all. That's what I want from my middles."
Senior Oluoma Okaro added 13 kills, now with double-digit kills in 16 of 18 matches this season. Sophomore Ivana Jeremic and freshman Griere Hughes each contributed nine kills.
Freshman Shelbie Dobmeier and sophomore Nicole Peterson split time at setter, posting 20 and 22 assists, respectively. Senior Halle Harker recorded 22 digs to bring her career total to 1,749. Sophomore Courtney Leffel added 14 digs, just two shy of her career high from Sept. of this season.
For the Trojans, Brittany Abercrombie had 18 kills while Niki Withers added 15 of her own.
Up next, the Sun Devils remain in sunny Tempe to take on No. 25 Colorado and No. 17 Utah on Friday, Oct. 13 and Sunday, Oct. 15 in Wells Fargo Arena. The match against the Buffs will be at 7 p.m. PT while the Sun Devils will take on the Utes at 1 p.m. PT. Both matches will be broadcasted live on the Pac-12 Network.
Match Notes
Kills: Unzue (13), Okaro (13), Johnson (1, career high!)
Attack Percentage: Unzue (.571; 13K, 1E, 21A)
Digs: Harker (22), Leffel (14)
Assists: Peterson (22), Dobmeier (20)
Blocks: Unzue (6; 2BS, 4BA)