Volleyball

ASU volleyball shows national-champion level, defeats Arizona

TEMPE – In 2025, Arizona’s most prolific collegiate rivalry broke Desert Financial Arena’s attendance record for a volleyball match. Nearly one year later, the 2026 iteration of the rivalry proved no different.

The Duel of the Desert battle, to the tune of over 7,000 fans, showed once again why the team further north is worthy of national-championship contender status.

The Sun Devil faction of Desert Financial Arena went home happy tonight after watching No. 8 Arizona State (14-3, 5-1 Big 12) defeat its in-state rival Arizona (6-11, 1-5 Big 12) 3-1 on Thursday night.

The Sun Devils came off three straight home wins heading into their matchup against Arizona. Their formula for victory was no different in the final outing of their four-game homestand: a deadly blend of offensive firepower, a stifling defense and an overcome-adversity mentality.

Each set victory for ASU showcased a different aspect of the Sun Devils’ balanced, yet lethal blueprint. A blueprint that has led them back to a top-10 ranking in the nation.

Down 24-22 in the first set, head coach JJ Van Niel called a timeout as his squad stared down a potential 1-0 set deficit. Despite the daunting thought of falling behind in a rivalry game, Van Niel’s squad never wavered and fought off back-to-back set points en route to a 26-24 set win.

Van Niel said that his players are still learning to fight when they are playing from behind, but says these moments in games are helpful building blocks to the end goal.

“I think it builds some confidence,” Van Niel said. ”You look up and you’re down; it doesn’t matter. You can come back.”

“I always call it the confidence piggy bank,” Van Niel said. “Put in the confidence piggy bank and go back to that later and know that you already did this. I think that’s really important because you have to believe you can do it.”

Fourth-year setter Isabella Costantini, who played in her first Territorial Cup game, said that the uninspiring play throughout most of the first set may have been due to nerves from the magnitude of the event.

“After the first set, we kind of just had a talk of being like, ‘You just gotta play our game,’” Costantini said. “We can’t really worry about the score. I guess we were playing in front of a big crowd, maybe the nerves kind of got us a little bit and it’s a big match for us. I guess coming out of the first set, our mentality was just, ‘Have no mercy.’”

Irrespective of the first set outcome, the Sun Devils entered set two with a .146 hitting percentage. However, ASU’s explosive offensive potential flashed in the second set to bring that number up.

Despite an overall .248 hitting percentage, the Sun Devils overwhelmed Arizona with a .500 hitting percentage in the second set. Combine that with 12 kills and a .600 kill percentage, and you get a 25-14 domination in the second frame.

Van Niel said the high number in hitting percentage came from his team’s ability to move the ball around cleanly.

“We were passing really well,” Van Niel said. “We were executing some stuff that we thought would be open really well. It seems like this season our serve and our pass are making a difference, so we have to make sure we’re passing well and we’re in good shape.”

Costantini was the lead catalyst in that aspect of the game for the Sun Devils, racking up a game-high 32 assists. She said that her job is easy because she has confidence in her outside hitters to put away any ball that she sets for them and that makes it difficult to beat them.

“It’s good because it gives me confidence in my decision-making just knowing that anybody can score,” Costantini said. “I think that it’s super hard to defend us because once we’re good in the system, they never know who the ball can go to. Whoever gets the ball, they can put it away.”

In the fourth and final set, which saw ASU outscore Arizona 25-16, the Sun Devils made life difficult for the Wildcats by totaling 23 digs. Third-year libero Faith Frame notched a team-high 18 digs in the game and said that even when her team does not end up getting the point, racking up those digs is still a plus.

“Even when we’re getting those digs and it ends up being their point, at the end of the day we still made them earn it,” Frame said. “That’s really important that it still makes them work.”

Frame said her job is to make it hard for her opponents to get past her, and that’s what she intends to do every play. She said her head coach shaped her mentality going into this rivalry game.

“JJ before the game said, ‘Don’t let them get it easy,’” Frame said.