Sand Devils Fall on Opening Day of NCAA Championships, Finish a Historic Season

(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

After a season that surpassed all expectations, the Arizona State beach volleyball team fell in the first round of the NCAA Championships to No. 5 Cal Poly. 

With the dominant season that they had, it came as little to no surprise that the team was given an at-large bid for its first trip to the NCAA Championships in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

In Friday morning’s match, the Devils fell to the Mustangs 3-0, with pairs 1, 2, and 3 all losing in straight sets.

Despite the loss, the Devils put together a season unlike any other in program history. Starting off the season a program-best 6-0, ASU established early its ability to compete.

The teams’ 21 wins ties for the most in program history while the Devils’ 11 ranked wins, including two top-10 wins over No. 2 Stanford No. 8 California, takes the cake for the best ever. 

ASU also saw its individuals bring in a plethora of accolades. Sophomore Daniella Kensinger and freshman Ava Williamson were both named second-team All-Americans, the first All-Americans in ASU’s history. Kensinger was also named to the second-team All-Pac-12. 

Sophomore Adriana Nieves Papaleo was given the Elite 90 award for highest grade-point average among the athletes at the NCAA Championships. The industrial engineering major holds a 4.0 alongside her work on the court.

Sophomore Arden Besecker and Williamson were named to the AVCA Top Flight for the twos court. The pair played together for the first part of the season, going 15-3, and picking up ranked wins over eight teams, and had two wins over top-five teams, Stanford and TCU. 

Rounding out the awards, ASU head coach Kristen Rohr was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year. In her first year in Tempe, she became the first ASU coach to win the award. She helped ASU become the first school in the Pac-12 to have the indoor and beach volleyball coaches of the year, as indoor head coach JJ Van Niel won the award back in November. 

With only four seniors on the roster, the Devils are set to retain most of their players next year, and will look to build on this year’s success in their move to the Big-12.

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