Sand Devils split weekend in Austin, yet to defeat Top 10 team

(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)

The Sand Devil Volleyball team competed in the East vs. West Tournament and left Austin with a pair of wins and losses.

No. 11 Arizona State began the weekend with wins against No. 20 Florida International and No. 18 Georgia State. This improved the team’s number of ranked wins to five.

On Friday, the Sand Devils’ game against Florida International was tied after four sets as the No. 2 and No. 5 pairs earned victories. This left the top pair of junior Daniella Kensinger and sophomore Ava Williamson to decide the winner.

Kensinger and Williamson lost the first set 21-15 but came back to win the second 21-15. They captured the clinching point in the third set with a final score of 18-16.

In the final matches of Friday, the team faced off against the Georgia State Panthers. They split their first wave duals in similar fashion to the previous game, but swept all three matches in the final wave of play.

Kensinger and Williamson doubled down and beat their opponents 2-0. This raised their record to 9-6 on the year and they won by three points in both sets.

A notable standout from Friday was from the recently paired juniors at No. 5, Tori Clement and Kendall Whitmarsh. They swept their matches and improved to a record of 3-2.

Also, in the Georgia State game, a new duo at No. 3 proved vital to the Sand Devils victory. Sophomores Ava Haughy and Olivia McElroy won their first ever match together and clinched the overall team win.

On Saturday, the struggles for the No. 11 Sand Devils began to show. They took on No. 12 LSU and No. 10 Texas with a chance to turn their fortune in the collegiate rankings.

ASU has yet to win a game against a team ranked within the top ten of the AVCA Coaches Poll. The Texas game could have been an opportunity to establish Arizona State as one of the ten best in the nation.

Instead, they started Saturday morning with a tough 3-2 loss against LSU. The disappointment continued into the afternoon when the Texas Longhorns defeated the Sun Devils 4-1.

The LSU game started similarly to Friday against Florida International, as both teams had a shot to win going into the final pair. Kensinger and Williamson claimed the first set, but lost the second.

This set up a winner take all scenario in the third and final set, but Tigers buried ASU in the sand with a score of 15-7. The third set has been an issue for the team throughout the 2025 season.

That trouble would carry over to the game against Texas, despite the Longhorns already having clinched the win. Williamson and Kensinger forced a third set after losing the second 21-16.

In spite of taking control of the match in the third, they were unable to convert it into a win. They had several opportunities where the duo was at match point, but the Longhorns capitalized on the little mistakes.

Several serving errors late in the match extended the game past the traditional 15 point regulation. The two teams traded possession and the lead back and forth until they tied at 21.

However, Texas ultimately swayed momentum and secured the win 23-21. This dealt ASU yet another tough third set loss to swallow.

Prior to this weekend, the Sand Devils had lost eight of the 11 matches that went into the third set. The trend continued as they left the tournament 4-17 in these matches, a near 70% losing percentage.

Another drop in the AVCA rankings is expected for the Sand Devil program that previously peaked at No. 10. The team fell to 9-8 and still lacks a win against a top 10 program.

On Wednesday March 26, the team will host a home matchup for the annual rivalry game against the University of Arizona. Then they will host the ASU/GCU Invitational over the weekend with UAB, Washington, UTEP and South Carolina as their opponents.