Volleyball to face Oregon State and Oregon

November 05, 2009

The Sun Devil Women’s Volleyball Team (12-11 overall, 2-9 Pac-10) will take to the friendly skies again this week as they set to head north to face Oregon State (11-11, 2-8 Pac-10) and No. 14 Oregon (15-5, 5-5 Pac-10) this Friday and Saturday night. the Sun Devils will take on the OSU Beavers Friday night in Corvallis before facing the 14th-ranked Ducks on Saturday in Eugene. Both matches are set to kickoff at 7 p.m. PT.<separator></separator>Follow The Sun Devils Live!: ASU’s fans can follow all of ASU’s home matches, as well as some road matches, via the free statistical GameTracker system at www.thesundevils.com. Just click on the Women’s Volleyball schedule and click on the live stats link!<separator></separator>Recapping Last Weekend: Against No. 21 Washington State: Determined to snap the eight-match losing streak, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a>, <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/highmark_cat00.html">C… Highmark</a> and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/wilson_erica00.html">E… Wilson</a> came out in the first set to step up the ASU offense and shut down the Cougars line of attack as Reaves collected four kills, and two block assists, while <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/wilson_erica00.html">E… Wilson</a> held down the net with three block assists and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/highmark_cat00.html">C… Highmark</a> controlled the pace with 13 assists for a .419 assist percentage as ASU came out to take the first set 25-22, which looked good for A State as they entered the match 9-0 in matches where they win the first set.<separator></separator>The second set saw ASU explode as everyone got in on the act with 14 kills for a .314 attack percentage with <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a> knocking back six kills with Sofie Schlagintweit right behind her with four. Wilson was stifling again with three more block assists for ASU’s four total blocks in the set as WSU was held to a .079 attack percentage as ASU ran off with a 25-18 win and a 2-0 lead into the break.<separator></separator>The third set saw ASU run out of gas a bit as errors wore down the Sun Devilswhile WSU hit .324 in the set to take one back from A State with a 25-15 win. ASU wasn’t willing to let it get to five though as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/schlagintweit_sofie00… Schlagintweit</a> took the reigns in the fourth set with five kills and a .714 attack percentage as Cat Highmark kept everyone locked in and on target with 18 assists for a .529 assist percentage to lead ASU to a 25-22 win to seal the match with a 3-1 win over the Cougars.<separator></separator>Against No. 5 Washington: The Sun Devils may have fell to the powerful Husky squad in three last Sunday, but they didn’t go quietly as they made U Dub work for it. Set one saw ASU match up strong with the Huskies as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/schlagintweit_sofie00… Schlagintweit</a> matched Kindra Carlson’s six kills but UW was just able to edge ASU with a .205 attack percentage to ASU’s .178 for a 25-23 win. UW’s Kindra Carlson exploded in the second set as ASU just couldn’t contain her as she swung a .524 attack percentage with a phenomenal 12 kills. ASU hung tough though, forcing seven tie scores and a lead change as ASU pushed UW to extra point where the Huskies squeaked out a 28-26 win. The third set saw freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/kastl_ashley00.html">A… Kastl</a> step up to bat for the Sun Devils as she collected seven kills in the third set to keep ASU in it, but as fatigue set in, UW took advantage, swinging .283 to take a 25-18 win and finish the sweep.<separator></separator>Scouting This Weekend’s Competition/Series History: Oregon State: The Sun Devils will face-off against the Beavers for the 49th time in overall program history where ASU holds the series lead 33-15. Earlier this season the Beavers traveled down the Tempe town where they were just barely able to fend off the Sun Devils, whisking off with a 3-2 win.<separator></separator>No. 14 Oregon: The Sun Devils will face the powerful Ducks for the 48th time in program history with the Devils holding an all-time record of 35-12. In their first meeting of the season in Tempe, ASU couldn’t seem to find the rhythm of the night as they fell in a tough 3-0 sweep.<separator></separator>Starting Out on the Right Foot: There’s been a marked change in the tides of the ASU Volleyball program as they posted an 11-3 record to open the 2009 season, which is their best opening record since 1992, where they finished with a 23-8 record overall and tied for fourth in the Pac-10 as well as taking a dance into the NCAA Tournament... all the way to a program-best “Sweet 16” appearance.<separator></separator>Bring The Heat! In addition to bringing in some powerhitters this season, the Sun Devils also see their kill leader from the past two seasons returns for only her junior campaign as <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/reaves_sarah00.html">S… Reaves</a> takes to the court as an upperclassman. Reaves finished the 2008 season with 431 kills on the year, and 287 in 2009 already to bring her career tally to 1,220,to enter the 1,000 mark club where only 11 others in ASU history stand as well as place her 6th in active Pac-10 leaders. <separator></separator>In ASU career history, Reaves already ranks ninth all-time with only 41 kills to go to take over eighth. Reaves also led the 2007 squad as a freshman with 418 kills, something a Sun Devil froshie hasn’t done since Christine Gardner in 1992 who holds the all-time record in ASU history. In addition to smashing some freshman ASU records, Reaves decided to break another ASU all-time record as she bested Juliana Escobar’s 27 kills against Oregon in 2002 with 28 of her own, also against Oregon on Sept. 27. But Reaves wasn’t going to stop there. She bested her own mark of 28 last season with 30 against Western Kentucky. Swing for the fences junior!