ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils back in Tempe to take on LA schools

(Photo via JJ Digos/Sun Devil Athletics)

After splitting its Bay Area road trip against Stanford and Cal, Arizona State Volleyball returns home this weekend to face two southern California conference opponents in USC (10-4, 4-0 Pac-12) and UCLA (9-5, 1-3 Pac-12).

After getting swept against Stanford, No. 23 ASU (15-1, 3-1 Pac-12) won its first five-set match of the season against the Golden Bears in which four Sun Devils set career-highs.

Senior opposite hitter Marta Levinska had a career-high 30 kills, tying the school rally-scoring record for kills in a match. Graduate setter Shannon Shields collected a career-high 54 assists, the third match with 50 or more assists in her career. Junior outside hitter Geli Cyr set a career-high in digs with 22, the highest dig total in a match of anyone on the roster this season. Lastly, senior middle blocker Claire Jeter led the team in aces with four, which tied her career-high.

After extending their streak to five consecutive wins against Cal, the Sun Devils find themselves looking at an inverse streak against USC in which they have lost five in a row. Historically, the Trojans have dominated ASU with a 71-22 all-time series record. In addition, USC has won nine of its last ten matches against the Sun Devils, with ASU’s last win against the Trojans being a four-set match in 2018. Meanwhile, USC comes into Tempe on a nine-match win streak, the longest win streak under fourth-year head coach Brad Keller.

ASU head coach JJ Van Niel is very familiar with Keller and the Trojans, as he was hired in 2018 to be the program’s associate head coach by then-head coach Brent Crouch. After Crouch’s departure in 2019, Van Niel was retained by Keller and stayed in the same coaching role until being hired this year to be ASU’s ninth head coach in program history.

Among the many Trojans Van Niel coached in his tenure at USC, fifth-year senior outside hitter Skylar Fields stands out as one of the nation’s premier offensive players. Fields is currently averaging 5.07 kills per set, ranking first in the Pac-12 Conference and fourth in the nation. Fields began her collegiate career at Texas, where she was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2019. After three seasons being named to the Big 12 All-Conference first-team, she transferred to USC for her senior year in 2022 and was named to the AVCA All-America First Team.

As for UCLA, the unit’s strength is its blocking. The Bruins collectively average 2.66 blocks per set, ranking fourth in the Pac-12. This can be attributed to graduate middle blocker Desiree Becker and redshirt senior middle blocker Anna Dodson, who are both averaging above a block per set. Becker, who is averaging 1.21 blocks per set, is in her first season with UCLA after four years at Northwestern where she averaged 0.93 blocks per set. Dodson, who is averaging 1.17 blocks per set, has been an All-Pac-12 honoree for the past two seasons.

ASU’s match against the Trojans Friday will be held at Desert Financial Arena at 6 p.m. MST and can be viewed on Pac-12 Insider, while Sunday’s contest against the Bruins will be played at Mullett Arena at 1 p.m. MST on ASU Live Stream.