In a trip up to the Midwest, No. 8 Arizona State Volleyball (11-2 overall, 2-0 Big 12) opened conference play by taking two wins against the No. 18 Kansas Jayhawks (9-6 overall, 0-1 Big 12) and Kansas State Wildcats (7-3 overall, 0-2 Big 12).
In a back-and-forth game on Friday, coach JJ Van Niel’s side dug deep to edge the Jayhawks in five sets. Two days later in Manhattan, Sparky faced less struggle and cruised to a sweep over the Wildcats.
The Sun Devils currently own a five-game winning streak: their longest of the season. With the two victories this weekend, the Maroon and Gold have now gone a full year (18 straight games) in the Big 12 without defeat, with the last loss dating back to Sept. 27 of 2024 against No. 19 Baylor.
On the same night that ASU Football rallied from 17-0 down to beat No. 24 TCU, Van Niel’s team completed a comeback of its own in Lawrence after falling behind against No. 18 Kansas.
The hosts edged the Sun Devils in the first set, which saw seven lead changes and 17 ties. Junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover, who finished the game with a career-high 25 kills, recorded six kills in the first set as ASU tied Kansas at 25-25.
In extra rallies, the visitors came within a point of winning the set twice, but the Jayhawks rallied both times and took the set 30-28.
In another tight set, ASU began to find its form, as the team went on a 10-2 run in the middle of the game, extending a lead that was too far out of reach for the hosts to come back. Sparky secured the second set 25-21.
However, Kansas responded by winning another close set 25-22 and coming within one set of causing the upset.
Yet, the Sun Devils refused to waver, pushing the match into a fifth and final set after strong offensive play. Sparky raced to a 22-14 lead following a 10-4 run. The Jayhawks made it close, scoring four straight points to go within four points of ASU. A kill from graduate middle blocker Colby Neal settled the set and forced the game into a sudden-death round.
With momentum on its side, the Maroon and Gold flexed its muscles and pulled ahead to a 7-2 lead. Glover secured the victory for the away side with her 25th kill to take the set 15-11.
The win marked ASU’s fourth in a row of keeping its opponents below a .200 hit percentage. Senior outside hitter Bailey Miller also impressed on the night with her fourth game with double-digit kills and digs.
Two days later, Van Niel’s side traveled up I-70 to Manhattan for Sunday afternoon’s clash against the Kansas State Wildcats.
Though the Sun Devils won their first set, both teams recorded at least three 3-0 runs. Despite this, Sparky never surrendered its lead and comfortably won the set 25-19, powered by Glover and junior middle blocker Ella Lomigora in offense, who combined for nine kills and four blocks.
“[Glover] is really a go-to player in crunch time,” Van Niel said after the game to the broadcast team on ESPN+. “We can set her the ball and she’s going to get a lot of kills. She’s really physical in that.”
The Wildcats continued to fight, leveling the score four times in the ensuing set. It was another game of high-scoring runs as each team tallied two 4-0 runs each, but once again the Sun Devils never trailed. Glover continued firing on offense, while senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott helped with four kills and four digs.
Kansas State eventually took the lead for the first time in the third set, racing to a 7-2 lead and making Van Niel use one of his timeouts. It seemed to work for the visitors as they cut into the Wildcats’ lead and leveled the game at 14-14.
Still, the 2024 Big 12 Champions showed their credentials and rallied to a six-point lead at set point. Glover, who finished with double-digit kills for the seventh time this season, secured another victory for the Sun Devils with a kill.
With their seventh sweep of the season, Van Niel described his team’s performance as “complete.”
“I thought we executed well defensively and offensively,” he said in his postgame interview on ESPN+. “We’ve had a lot of matches where one phase of the game has been good, and the other’s been struggling. So it was really nice to see a kind of complete game.”
Arizona State will look to stay perfect in conference play next Saturday, as it hosts Utah at Desert Financial Arena at 1 p.m.
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