Beach Volleyball Heads Up the Road for Lopes Invitational

(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
After extending a program-best winning streak over ranked opponents in last weekend’s Fight in the Fort tournament in Texas, the No. 12 Arizona State Women’s Beach Volleyball team is now set to clash with two more ranked opponents on Saturday in Phoenix by competing in the Lopes Invitational.

The Sand Devils (14-4, 3-0 Pac-12) are off to its best start in program history and have shown no signs of slowing down. Following a 3-1 weekend in Fort Worth, the Sun Devils notched its seventh win against a ranked opponent this season, which extended a program record.

Through just 18 matches so far this season, the Sun Devils have already tied the fourth-best win total in program history with 14 victories.

The unprecedented success the program has seen this season doesn’t happen without players performing at a high level, and that is exactly what Sand Devil head coach Kristen Rohr has gotten out of her group.

Sophomore Arden Besecker and freshman Ava Williamson are the most recent pair to explode for a monster performance this season. In Fort Worth, they went undefeated on their way to winning nine duals in a row as a duo. In recording their ninth victory, Besecker and Williamson tied the longest winning streak set by a pair in ASU history.

Due to their stellar play, Besecker and Williamson also picked up another accolade, bringing home the Pac-12 Pair of the Week award. They are just the third pair to win the award in ASU history, and the second to do so this season after sophomore Daniella Kensinger and junior Anya Pemberton earned the honors earlier this month.

The Sand Devils also got great production out of two other pairs last weekend on the road, as sophomores Ava Kirunchyk and Carys Thomas picked up big wins against Florida International and TCU, finishing the weekend with a 3-1 record.

Graduate Lexi Sweeney and senior Taryn Ames notched three wins of their own, continuing to add a steady, veteran presence to ASU’s lineup.

Looking ahead to this weekend, coach Rohr will be back on the sand in Phoenix for the first time since leaving Grand Canyon University and coming to ASU prior to this season. Rohr previously served as GCU’s head coach for eight years. She helped the team achieve top-10 results at the end of the 2020 campaign when she led the Lopes to a No. 7 ranking, which came just three years after the beach volleyball stadium was built.

Since Rohr’s departure, No. 16 GCU has a losing 7-9 record this season but is coming off arguably their best weekend of 2024. In the Mid-Season CCSA Tournament, the Lopes went 3-1 while besting then No. 8 LSU, which now stands as their biggest win of the season, and their only victory against a ranked opponent.

Under Rohr, GCU had ASU’s number, winning six of the last seven matches between the schools in the crosstown rivalry. The Sun Devils only win in that span against the Lopes came five years ago in 2019. ASU is hoping having Rohr on its side proves to be the key to turning the tide back in its favor.

However, before the Sun Devils look for revenge against their fellow in-state rival, they will have to deal with No. 18 Stetson. The Hatters should be rolling into this weekend feeling good and well-rested, having last played nearly two weeks ago before this weekend. The group went 4-0 in the team’s hosted tournament, the Stetson Spring Invitational. The Hatters got an early start to the action this weekend, already securing a victory against Arizona, 3-2, early Friday morning.

ASU will see Stetson on Saturday at 10 a.m. and GCU later that afternoon at 2 p.m. Both matches will be played at Grand Canyon University.