TEMPE — One game at a time.
That’s the mentality from senior outside Bailey Miller and No. 8 Arizona State Volleyball, who opened Big 12 action at home for the first time this season against the Utah Utes.
ASU (12-2, 3-0 Big 12) took care of business with its eighth sweep of the season, sweeping Utah (8-7, 0-4 Big 12) and extending the team’s winning streak in Big 12 play to 19 games across two seasons.
The team also celebrated its Big 12 championship from last season, awarding rings to members of the 2024 squad.
Before the start of the game, members of 2024 ASU team are being awarded their Big 12 Championship rings.@InfernoIntel pic.twitter.com/jQcvMf3NpV
— Jake Iovine (@jake11_io) October 4, 2025
In the midst of a three-game homestand, the Sun Devils will play three times in six days at Desert Financial Arena — two of which pit ASU against teams that occupy a top-three position in the conference.
“Just taking one game at a time, but also knowing that it’s a long stretch,” Miller said on Saturday after the game. “Being good with our recovery. I think we were really disciplined tonight.”
It’s also marked the team’s 11th straight win at Desert Financial Arena in conference action. The Maroon and Gold netted an undefeated record in Tempe last season — something they want to repeat in 2025.
“That’s one of our goals,” Miller said. “Just knowing this is our court and these are our fans, we have to defend that. It’s kind of a chip on our shoulder, and knowing we were able to do that last year, so it’s completely possible we are able to do it this year.”
A scrappy first set saw both teams tally eight service errors. Despite scoring 16 points, the Utes recorded a .000 hitting percentage while the Sun Devils stayed below .100 for the majority of the set.
Junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover also struggled out of the gate with only two kills recorded in the first set. The junior entered the match with double-digit kills in all but one game. She recorded a season-high 25 kills in last Friday’s win at Kansas.
Eventually, Sparky shook off its early difficulties and scored 12 of the last 15 points to win the first set 25-16.
Then, Glover found her groove, notching five kills and improving her hitting percentage to .385. The Utes, who tied their highest number of service errors in a game this season (20), registered eight in the second set, which allowed ASU to pull away to a 25-15 round victory.
“That’s the great thing about our team: if one person might be having a slow start, another person can be on,” Miller said. “We are getting our middles involved, and we are running our system; the red gap goes. It’s one of the hardest things to defend, especially at our speed.”
With a full week to prepare for the game against his former team, coach JJ Van Niel utilized the time to make some tweaks in the team’s offensive approach.
“We had a nice week of practice to really prep for how we wanted to make some changes to get a little cleaner on offense,” Van Niel said. “For the most part, we did a nice job with that. So that’s really nice execution.”
Utah’s first lead came early in the third set, but it didn’t last long, as the Sun Devils struck a 6-0 run to lead 14-9. Glover continued to fire on offense, reaching double-digit kills for the eighth time this season, while Miller tallied nine kills and seven digs.
A difficult task lies ahead for Van Niel’s team. On Wednesday, the squad will host Baylor, which still stands as the last team to defeat the Sun Devils in Big 12 action. Two days later, Sparky will welcome a Colorado side, which is undefeated in conference play so far.
But for Miller and ASU, it’s all about taking it “one game at a time.”
“(Baylor) is a very gritty team, they’re good in an in-system,” Miller said. “We’re really locked in on them. We try to think one game at a time.”
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