(Photo: Austin Hurst/WCSN)
TEMPE – As Arizona State’s friday evening matchup drew to a close over 4,000 fans in Desert Financial Arena stood on their feet and started cheering. They, as well as all the players, were waiting to celebrate the amazing season and the Big 12 Championship that Arizona State had already clinched.
After beating Colorado last Saturday Arizona State clinched a share of the Big 12 Championship. On Wednesday, No. 11 Kansas lost to No. 24 BYU, handing the Sun Devils sole possession of the Championship. Arizona State didn’t need to win Friday evening, but to make the postgame celebration sweeter it swept UCF in convincing fashion. The team’s evidently strong culture showed through during the celebrations, showing that in just two years head coach JJ Van Niel had built something special.
No. 8 Arizona State (29-2, 17-1 Big 12) swept (25-19, 25-16, 25-21) UCF (9-18, 2-15), completing the victory after a Knights service error. Friday evening was more than just a game at DFA, it was a celebration for the Big 12 Championship, an undefeated regular season at home and an opportunity to honor outgoing seniors Shania Cromartie, Geli Cyr, Claire Jeter, Savannah Kjolhede, Roberta Rabelo, Mary Shroll and Argentina Ung in senior night ceremonies before the game.
In head coach JJ Van Niel’s second year at the helm of Arizona State volleyball and the team’s first year in the Big 12 Conference he and his players created history, becoming the first Arizona State program to win in its new conference with a spectacular season. He won 17 conference games, the most that ASU volleyball has ever won, 13 home games throughout the year and 29 games in total with the tournament still to come, a number that is second only to the 1982 team’s 31 victories.
“It’s really special for this group of kids,” Van Niel said. “We have a very veteran team that’s been through a lot, we have some kids on here that have never made a tournament. They set the goal of winning the championship at the beginning of the season. …We believed the whole time that we could be in the mix to do it and they went out and did it. So I’m really proud of this team, and really, really special for our program, that’s for sure.”
Graduate middle blocker Claire Jeter transferred to Arizona State in 2021, she’s seen the growth of the program and knows the reputation of the program that was in people’s minds. She remembered how there were people who said that the Sun Devils 2023 season was a fluke.
“Our job was to make sure everyone knew that it wasn’t,” Jeter said. “And that we trained to be in the position that we are today.”
The Sun Devils are of course very talented on the court and building culture off the court is a reason for that. Everyone on the team buys into the culture and their roles, whether it’s a starter or bench player like freshman libero Piper Rama who Jeter described as the head of the bench for her antics like doing the worm.
The culture is something that Van Niel sees and doesnt take for granted. His opinion is that his team’s culture could stack up to the culture of any other team that plays any other sport in the country.
The team and their families met at Van Niel’s house the day prior for a Thanksgiving dinner. With around 60 people present Van Niel enjoyed seeing the environment, an example of the team’s strong culture, which the outgoing seniors spearhead.
“Mary is interacting with (Kiylah Presley) and Piper (Rama), they’re like six years difference in age, yet they do such a good job of just having fun and enjoying each other,” Van Niel said. “It’s really, really special. This group has really set the standard for what is expected in the culture.”
The culture was on full display during the postgame celebrations, but they probably wouldn’t have been as lively if Arizona State hadn’t beaten UCF.
Arizona State didn’t have a strong grasp on the control of each set before pulling away in the middle or back portions. In the first, second and third sets of the game, a 5-0 run and two 7-1 runs gave Arizona State the gap needed to take control of the set and carry that to victory. It’s been a common pattern this year for the team to be playing a close set before simply pulling away. Graduate libero Mary Shroll attributes it to locking in when things get close.
“We kind of look at each other and we’re like, ‘okay, let’s go. This is go time, let’s finish this out.’” Shroll said. “Every game that we go into we talk about that, stay consistent, starting off strong and I think there’s moments too in the match, maybe it’s 17-16 or of closer headed into the 20s when it’s like, ‘okay, time to get this done, let’s go get our trophy.’”
A more technical look at what makes those runs possible is good serving and good defense that wears out Arizona State’s opponents. Serving is a focal point of Van Niel’s brand of volleyball and it can get the team out of ruts.
“I think a lot of the momentum runs have to do with your serve and defense,” Van Niel said. “And when we can put pressure on we can defend really well. It puts pressure on the opponents quite a bit. I think it all starts from the service line.”
One of the standout servers for Arizona State is freshman Bella Faria who has taken on a bigger role as a substitute server and was the Sun Devil serving during key ASU runs during the match. She kicked off rallies that ASU would go on to win and collected a service ace along the way.
“Serving sub is the hardest position you can play in volleyball,” Jeter said. “You’re coming off the bench cold and you’re going in and your one thing is to serve. (If) you miss it your job is over for that round, you wait for the next time. (Faria) comes in every single time with the same intent, the same aggressiveness, and she’s always putting the ball where we need it to be.”
Faria played a big role in what ended up being a dominant Arizona State senior day victory. The Sun Devils had four players above five kills with senior outside hitter Geli Cyr and graduate outside hitter Shania Cromartie leading the way with 11 and nine respectively. Cyr also showed her two-way skills, racking up nine digs, one behind Shroll for the team lead on the day. All three shined on their senior day, but it is certainly not their final game in front of the Sun Devil faithful.
The Sun Devils won the day and won the regular season, but their fight isn’t over yet. Arizona State will host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament and it will find out its seed on Sunday. Arizona State has the skill to go far in the tournament and they also have a culture that other schools might not share.
“Everyone, seniors, freshmen, grads, we’re all very, very close,” Jeter said. “We play for each other, with each other, for the same common goal, which is something you don’t find everywhere. There’s a lot of people, a lot of teams, that some people want to play for something different, they don’t think it’s as important. And everyone, every day we step in the gym, has the same goal with the same intent on how to get there.”
