TEMPE, Ariz. – Back in Desert Financial Arena, Arizona State volleyball fell short against No. 5 Stanford, dropping the match in straight sets (25-16, 25-23, 25-10) on Friday night.
Notable Stats
Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic
"Pretty disappointing showing from us. As a player, when you play a team like that you have nothing to lose. All you have is to gain so why not go out there and play hard, hit hard, and serve hard and hit the floor like you never have before. Hopefully, from here we just go up. We have to practice better to play better."
On the team's post-game conversation
"It's not what got you here that's going to take you to the next level; it's your work ethic, the attention to detail that will separate you from the rest of them. We have kids that can compete, we're just struggling with owning it and saying that there is no bad set for a good hitter. There is no bad pass for a setter. It's about taking ownership and not putting blame on other people. If you put blame on other people, the result will always be the same because you can't control other people. If you take charge of what you're doing, then you can make a difference tomorrow. It's a big challenge for us right now to just get them to own it. Stop running from your mistakes. Love them, embrace them, fix them, get better. As an athlete, you always have things to work on. You can talk to the best of the best in the world they always have something to improve, and before you get better, you get worse. We got worse and now it's time to get better and we'll get there. I have faith in these girls, we have good kids, and a lot of kids that mean well and want to represent the university in the best way. We will get there, we just want to get there now so we can have the best senior season for Courtney and the other seniors we have, but we'll get there."
Senior libero Courtney Leffel
On defensive struggles
"I think it's just the mentality. We have the physical ability, I think we just have a lot of growing up to do and owning your mistakes and not putting it on somebody else. I think every person on this team is capable of doing their job. Yes, we can get better on physical things, we all have things that we need to work on but at this point, I think it's totally mental and every single person needs to decide to make a change. If every single person doesn't make a change, it's going to be hard."
Set One: Stanford 25, Arizona State 16
Stanford started strong, opening up with a 4-0 run. Four in a row for ASU got them within two at 8-6, capped off by a block from Avital Jaloba and Mitrovic. The Cardinal took back control, however, going up 20-13 after an 8-2 run. Claire Kovensky earned a stuff block and a kill down the stretch, but the Sun Devils were unable to come back, losing 25-16.
Set Two: Stanford 25, Arizona State 23
Arizona State kept it close to start the second set, a block from Megan Beedie giving the home team its first lead of the match at 2-1. However, the Cardinal pulled away with a 6-1 run, going up 13-9 and forcing Tomasevic to use the first timeout. Three in a row for ASU down the stretch tied it up at 21-21, two kills coming from Isanovic. Jaloba pounded the ball straight down to hold off one set point, but Stanford tooled the block to win a close one, 25-23.
Set Three: Stanford 25, Arizona State 10
The Cardinal jumped out to a huge lead to start the third set, scoring four a in a row to start and pushing their lead to 7-2. A kill from Beedie and a Stanford error gave ASU two points in a row before the visitors took control. The Sun Devils trailed 18-9 before calling their second timeout. The Cardinal would finish the set on a 7-0 run, winning 25-10.
Up Next
Arizona State will host No. 20 Cal (19-4, 9-4 Pac-12) on Sunday at noon MST in Desert Financial Arena. It will be live on the Pac-12 Network. The Bears are coming off of a sweep over the Arizona Wildcats.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (13-11, 5-8 Pac-12) has lost three matches in a row after winning the three before that. Stanford (17-4, 11-3 Pac-12) improved its hold on first place in the conference with the sweep.
- The Sun Devils had just one less block than the Cardinal, 7.0 to Stanford's 8.0.
- Senior setter Callie Jones earned her fifth double-double of the year with 13 assists and 10 digs. The assists were a team high.
- Senior libero Courtney Leffel led the team in digs with 13.
- Both Iman Isanovic and Andrea Mitrovic had six kills and hit .200 to lead the offense in the loss.
Arizona State head coach Sanja Tomasevic
"Pretty disappointing showing from us. As a player, when you play a team like that you have nothing to lose. All you have is to gain so why not go out there and play hard, hit hard, and serve hard and hit the floor like you never have before. Hopefully, from here we just go up. We have to practice better to play better."
On the team's post-game conversation
"It's not what got you here that's going to take you to the next level; it's your work ethic, the attention to detail that will separate you from the rest of them. We have kids that can compete, we're just struggling with owning it and saying that there is no bad set for a good hitter. There is no bad pass for a setter. It's about taking ownership and not putting blame on other people. If you put blame on other people, the result will always be the same because you can't control other people. If you take charge of what you're doing, then you can make a difference tomorrow. It's a big challenge for us right now to just get them to own it. Stop running from your mistakes. Love them, embrace them, fix them, get better. As an athlete, you always have things to work on. You can talk to the best of the best in the world they always have something to improve, and before you get better, you get worse. We got worse and now it's time to get better and we'll get there. I have faith in these girls, we have good kids, and a lot of kids that mean well and want to represent the university in the best way. We will get there, we just want to get there now so we can have the best senior season for Courtney and the other seniors we have, but we'll get there."
Senior libero Courtney Leffel
On defensive struggles
"I think it's just the mentality. We have the physical ability, I think we just have a lot of growing up to do and owning your mistakes and not putting it on somebody else. I think every person on this team is capable of doing their job. Yes, we can get better on physical things, we all have things that we need to work on but at this point, I think it's totally mental and every single person needs to decide to make a change. If every single person doesn't make a change, it's going to be hard."
Set One: Stanford 25, Arizona State 16
Stanford started strong, opening up with a 4-0 run. Four in a row for ASU got them within two at 8-6, capped off by a block from Avital Jaloba and Mitrovic. The Cardinal took back control, however, going up 20-13 after an 8-2 run. Claire Kovensky earned a stuff block and a kill down the stretch, but the Sun Devils were unable to come back, losing 25-16.
Set Two: Stanford 25, Arizona State 23
Arizona State kept it close to start the second set, a block from Megan Beedie giving the home team its first lead of the match at 2-1. However, the Cardinal pulled away with a 6-1 run, going up 13-9 and forcing Tomasevic to use the first timeout. Three in a row for ASU down the stretch tied it up at 21-21, two kills coming from Isanovic. Jaloba pounded the ball straight down to hold off one set point, but Stanford tooled the block to win a close one, 25-23.
Set Three: Stanford 25, Arizona State 10
The Cardinal jumped out to a huge lead to start the third set, scoring four a in a row to start and pushing their lead to 7-2. A kill from Beedie and a Stanford error gave ASU two points in a row before the visitors took control. The Sun Devils trailed 18-9 before calling their second timeout. The Cardinal would finish the set on a 7-0 run, winning 25-10.
Up Next
Arizona State will host No. 20 Cal (19-4, 9-4 Pac-12) on Sunday at noon MST in Desert Financial Arena. It will be live on the Pac-12 Network. The Bears are coming off of a sweep over the Arizona Wildcats.