ASU Volleyball: Poor hitting plagues the Sun Devils again in loss to No. 19 USC

It was a difference of about 10 percent, but the No. 19 USC Trojans (17-7, 9-4 Pac-12) took care of business against Arizona State (10-15, 0-13 Pac-12) 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, 18-25, on Friday night in Wells Fargo Arena.

It did not take long for Arizona-native and sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier to get going for the Trojans.

She helped USC get out to an early first set lead. The Sun Devils were able to draw the match close, but could not close the gap all the way.

Lanier had a monster match, as she led the Trojans with 20 kills, after missing a few matches before this one. She hit a consistent .298.

In the second set, the Sun Devils fended off an early Trojan lead behind a team effort on offense. Outside hitters freshman Griere Hughes and senior Oluoma Okaro led the charge in the set; however, the deficits were too much to overcome in the subsequent sets.

Hughes and Okaro would finish the match with 15 and 11 kills, respectively.

One bright spot that has continued to shine for ASU throughout the season has been senior libero Halle Harker, who continued her tear through Pac-12 play with another 17 digs in the four sets.

She currently sits third in ASU history for digs.

As a team the Sun Devils took a big hit in the consistency of their offense once again. Without sophomore outside hitter Ivana Jeremic again, they hit .116 in the match, good for converting one kill every 10 swings.

ASU has another tough matchup against a top-25 Pac-12 opponent against No. 18 UCLA on Saturday at .