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The Arizona State Sun Devils (10-20, 0-18 Pac-12) are in danger of not winning a Pac-12 game for the first time in team history.
They traveled to No. 17 Utah (21-8, 12-6 Pac-12) and Colorado (21-8, 11-7 Pac-12) and could not close out on a win, getting swept by the Utes and taking the Buffaloes to five sets on Friday and Saturday.
Match One: Utah
The Sun Devils could not really get anything going as the Utes took charge of the match winning 25-21, 25-19, 25-15.
Utah hit .355 in the three-set sweep. Only committing 11 errors over 110 attack attempts.
The Sun Devils on the other hand could only hit .194 and converted 12 less kills in the match than the Utes.
Senior outside hitter Oluoma Okaro would finish with 13 kills in the match, giving her 25 matches with double-digit kills on the season.
But it was Utes’ freshman outside hitter Kenzie Koerber that did the majority of the damage to the Sun Devils.
Combining her 10 kills and .529 hitting percentage with senior outside hitter Adora Anae’s 13 kills and .281 hitting percentage, the two grounded the Ute attack.
Senior libero Halle Harker dug up 15 balls to move within 48 of second all-time at ASU.
Match Two: Colorado
ASU put up more of a fight in its second match of the weekend, coming within two points of a victory but Colorado prevailed 26-28, 25-16, 24-26, 25-23, 15-11.
Okaro gave all she had, notching 25 kills in the match. She took a whopping 71 swings.
She was joined by freshman outside hitter Griere Hughes and junior middle blocker Peyton Grahovac who had 12 kills each.
After three sets, the Sun Devils had a 2-1 set lead. They were up 23-22 in the fourth set and the Buffaloes rallied back to force a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Buffaloes had too much momentum for the Sun Devils to hold up, as they dropped the match in a heartbreaking final effort. It was the fourth time that the Sun Devils had dropped a five-set match, and it was the third time in conference play.
Five Colorado hitters found their way to double-digit kills and the team posted a .242 hitting percentage.
Both the Sun Devils’ and Buffaloes’ block kept their opponent in check for most of the match, with each team recording a total of 16 blocks.
Up next, ASU will make its final travel plans as they head off to Washington State and the University of Arizona next weekend.