Takeaways: Sun Devils earn weekend sweep in New York

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

As No. 7 Arizona State traveled to Central New York, it was coming off a relatively hot start to the season. The Sun Devils opened against two Top-15 opponents, picking up victories against then-No. 2 Texas and then-No. 14 Minnesota.

ASU’s early success was halted just a game later. Less than 24 hours after the win against the Gophers, the Sun Devils found themselves swept by former Pac-12 rival, then-No. 20 USC.

However, the Sun Devils (5-1, 0-0) regained their momentum as they took care of business in the Colgate Volleyball Classic, defeating hosts Colgate, Princeton and Villanova, all by sweeps.

Here are three takeaways from the weekend.

Sun Devils Clean Up Mistakes

In the loss to the Trojans, ASU was its own worst enemy for much of the match. While the Sun Devils appeared tired for much of the match, they were unable to capitalize on opportunities handed to them by USC.

ASU committed 21 hitting errors through the three sets, with graduate outside hitter Aniya Clinton, senior opposite hitter Noemi Glover and junior outside hitter Una Vajagic unable to get into a consistent rhythm. USC’s block forced ASU into hitting errors.

Against Colgate on Thursday, the Sun Devils flipped the script.

In its first set of the game, ASU committed zero hitting errors– a stark difference from the seven committed in the opening set against USC. The Sun Devils took their no-error stat line late into the second set, allowing them to win both sets in relaxing fashion, 25-10 and 25-12, respectively. 

Not only did the Sun Devils clean up their errors, but they also took advantage of the Raiders.

With the first set score sitting at 20-10 in favor of ASU, the Sun Devils sent a serve over the net. 

When the ball traveled onto Colgate’s side of the court, the Raider players struggled to get control–so much so that they were forced to use their third and final hit to just bump the ball back to ASU.

The Sun Devils received the ball and set up their attack. A bump, then a jumping set by freshman setter Elle Mottola had freshman middle-blocker Ella Hope ready to strike. Hope climbed the ladder and spiked the ball straight into the wooden floor to win the Sun Devils a point.

ASU took advantage of its free-ball opportunities throughout the contest after not utilizing such chances against the Trojans. As the Sun Devils move toward conference play, they will want to continue to shake off the early-season errors.

ASU Serves Its Way to Victory against Princeton 

For the second time in as many weeks, the Sun Devils were forced to play a game less than 24 hours apart. Although the quality of opponents was slightly different, the Sun Devils were able to deal with the fatigue against Princeton.

While the Sun Devils committed more errors than the previous night, they were able to make up for it in a different area of play: Aces.

ASU won a season-high 10 points off of attacking serves on Friday night, compared to the Tigers’ one. It wasn’t just a season-high by one ace; rather, it was four more than the six the Sun Devils picked up against Minnesota.

Vajagic has led the way for much of the season on the outsides, leading the Sun Devils in kills with 73. However, against Princeton, the Serbia native facilitated the Sun Devil attack from the back.

Throughout the game, the junior outside hitter utilized the power she typically uses to spike the ball to give the Tigers trouble. Vajagic placed many of her serves in between lines with a knuckling spin–so even if the Tigers received the serve, it would set up a free-ball opportunity.
Joining Vajagic in the Sun Devils’ dominant serving was junior defensive specialist Piper Rama. 

Rama has been the most consistent Sun Devil server, leading the team with 10 aces in 2026.  The Phoenix native added three aces on Friday evening, helping the Sun Devils pick up their third sweep of the season.

Though 10-kill games are likely not a sustainable way to continue winning for ASU, it serves as proof that head coach JJ Van Niel’s squad can find multiple different ways to win depending on the opponent they play.

Glover, Vajagic and Frame shine for Sun Devils to help sweep weekend tournament.

After the Sun Devils’ Sweet-16 appearance in 2025, Van Niel was forced to bring in a plethora of talent to replace some of its star players. The Sun Devils’ show lost one of its leading scorers, outside hitter Bailey Miller, who racked up 392 kills, including a 28-kill game against Texas State. 

ASU brought in its new main attraction from Serbia in Vajagic, hoping to refurbish its dominant 2025 attack.

So far, Vajagic has lived up to the hype. 

The junior has seemed to fit into Van Niel’s offense splendidly, as the motions run by the Sun Devil head coach have put her in positions to use her ferocious power to win consistent points for the Sun Devils. Against Villanova on Saturday, Vajagic added seven more kills to bring her team-leading total up to 73 on the season. 

As Vajagic puts on a show on one side, she is helped by the attention brought to one of Van Niel’s returning features, senior opposite-side hitter Noemi Glover. Last season’s Big-12 Player of the Year has been the focus of ASU’s opposition defense after a 423-kill campaign in 2025.

While Glover has been the Sun Devils’ second-leading scorer to start the season, she has been relied on in the few moments in which ASU has been on the ropes. The Sun Devils trailed early on in both of the first two sets Saturday, looking like the fatigue of a three-game tournament had gotten to them.

Then, they turned to Ole’ Reliable.

Glover stepped up and helped facilitate the Sun Devils’ offense with her powerful left-swing, setting ASU on its way to two dominant set victories before closing out the sweep of the weekend series.

With Vajagic and Glover in charge of the Sun Devil offense, the Sun Devils have relied on another returner to hold down their defense. Junior libero Faith Frame is in her third season with the program after recording 813 kills in her first two.

Frame has been crucial in the Sun Devils saving points, with diving one-arm stops and gutsy defensive effort. Against Villanova, Frame dug 10 balls out, keeping the Sun Devils alive on multiple points.

With a tough Big 12 Conference schedule ahead, Van Niel will hope that his three-headed monster can continue to provide the production that has led to the Sun Devils’ 5-1 start away from home.

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