TEMPE — When Arizona State Volleyball introduced JJ Van Niel as its new head coach in late 2022, he made it a goal to bring in more fans to Desert Financial Arena.
Since then, attendance has climbed. In its previous two home encounters against the Arizona Wildcats, ASU recorded its third and fourth-highest crowds since 2013.
But in Van Niel’s third home rivalry game on Thursday, his program welcomed its biggest crowd this century. 7,703 fans packed the stands to watch No. 8 Arizona State (21-3, 12-1 Big 12) secure its second win over Arizona (14-10, 8-6 Big 12) this season in a 3-1 victory.
The attendance number smashed a decade-long record of 5,153 fans at another Territorial Cup clash. It’s the biggest crowd since at least 2013, according to ASU’s Record Book.
“I’m so grateful for the fans,” Van Niel said after the game. “It was such a great environment. That was unbelievable.
“(I) go back to the first press conference I had, and I talked about wanting to build something where we got fans in there. It was really special to have that many people come out and support us. I hope they keep coming.”
Sparky also set new highs on the court, logging 17 team blocks in the game, breaking its season-high of 16.5 against BYU in October.
The Sun Devils dominated early, as they recorded a .526% hitting percentage in the first set.
Van Niel’s side forced the Wildcats to call two timeouts during a 7-1 run. Six different players registered at least one kill in the set, with graduate middle blocker Colby Neal and senior outside hitter Bailey Miller leading the pack with three each.
Arizona responded in the following set, taking the lead for the first time at 9-8 and forcing Van Niel to call his first timeout.
The tight set had six ties and five lead changes before the Wildcats stretched their lead late in the round. Despite hitting 0.032% by the end of the second set, Arizona ultimately won the frame 25-20 to level the score.
Van Niel’s team took care of business in the following set, winning 25-18 despite the Wildcats staying within four points or less throughout the round.
The visitors didn’t go down without a fight and looked to force the game into a fifth set. After trailing 10-6, the Wildcats found offensive rhythm to bag two 3-0 runs, making Van Niel take a timeout down 21-17.
ASU’s Big 12 undefeated home streak looked to be in jeopardy with Arizona poised to force a final set. However, the Sun Devils scored six of the next seven rallies after Van Niel’s timeout to give them a lead late in the set.
“We practice these scenarios a lot in practice,” senior setter Sydney Henry, who notched 24 assists on the night, said. “It wasn’t anything new for us, and I think that we’re all super connected and we have a lot of confidence in each other. It just made it super easy and super groovy to just keep on going up at the end.”
Poetically, the game ended with a block by Neal: her ninth of the game and ASU’s 17th team block.
The victory keeps the Sun Devils two games ahead of Colorado at the top of the Big 12 with five games remaining. Sparky can take another step toward the conference title on Saturday as the Maroon and Gold face the No. 22 Buffaloes.
However, Van Niel does not want to get ahead of himself.
“I don’t talk forward at all,” Van Niel said. “I don’t mention the tournament, I don’t mention what place we’re at. That just doesn’t come into my messaging ever. Now we’re going get ready for Colorado, it’s a fast turnaround.”
Leave a Reply