ASU Volleyball advances to NCAA Sweet 16 for second time in three years

Arizona State Volleyball only went to five sets in five regular season matches.

Avoiding an always dicey fifth set Friday against Utah State with an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 berth at stake was a virtual must. Especially since the Aggies upset No. 7 seed Tennessee in five sets Thursday for their 22nd consecutive win.

Utah State won 25-22 over No. 2 seed ASU in the third set, creating at least a bit of unease for a crowd of 3,424 at Desert Financial Arena, where the Sun Devils lost in the NCAA second round last year.

ASU didn’t flinch.

The Sun Devils led the entirety of set four, hitting .533 and siding out 15-of-16 chances, to win 25-15. They clinched their second Sweet 16 berth in three years under coach JJ Van Niel, improving to 28-3, and will play No. 3 seed Creighton (27-5) in a regional semifinal Thursday or Friday at Kentucky. 

ASU is trying to reach the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

“You can respond two ways after that third set,” Van Niel said. “During that set, we were pressing a little bit on some stuff. The fourth set was just a reminder we don’t have to do anything different, keep playing our game and they came out and did a wonderful job and we sided out 93 percent.”

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#ASU volleyball coach JJ Van Niel on Sun Devils advancing to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for second time in 3 years pic.twitter.com/h5VH4ghXZS

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ASU improved to 16-0 at home behind Bailey Miller, with 18 kills/.471 hitting on the left side, and Noemie Glover, 17 kills (no errors)/.531 on the right. Add in Tatum Parrott’s 13 kills, and the Sun Devils pins were simply too much for Mountain West champion Utah State (24-8).

Miller hit just .062 in the first round against Coppin State on Thursday. “She was pressing and made some uncharacteristic errors,” Van Niel said. “Trying to make the perfect shot.”

The 6-3 senior only had two errors against Utah State in 34 attempts, finishing with a team-high 21 points. Glover scored 18.5 and Parrott 13.5.

“I was really amped up and ready for the tournament,” Miller said. “It affected my mentality a little bit (Thursday). I thought about it a lot and I was telling myself I need to relax and just go out and play.”

ASU won the first two sets 25-15 and 25-18. Utah State improved its defense and passing in the third set with sophomores Loryn Helgesen and Mara Stiglic leading the Aggies offense.

“We had a wonderful night (against Tennessee),” Aggies coach Rob Neilson said. “That’s emotionally, physically taxing, and we just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be early. I really loved our group’s heart and the way they battled, came back in the third. Taking a set off these guys was a big deal. But just a little too much firepower from that Arizona State team.”

Miller is one of the few ASU players remaining from the 2024 team that lost 3-1 to Texas A&M in the NCAA second round. Now she gets a chance in the Sweet 16 as do Glover and middle blocker Colby Neal, who were at Oregon last year when the Ducks fell 3-2 to Pitt in the Sweet 16.

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#ASU Bailey Miller on her big match against Utah State after a shaky match in the NCAA Tournament first round Thursday pic.twitter.com/zzKgsihTZs

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“Now it’s do or die,” said Glover, Big 12 Player of the Year. “This is our moment to shine. The opportunity presents itself to play Creighton. We’re going to come out and give it our best.”

ASU goes into the Lexington regional on a 10-match win streak since their third loss Oct. 31. 

In the 2023 Sweet 16, the Sun Devils lost 3-1 at Stanford. Before that, they had not played in a regional semifinal since 1995.

Arizona played its NCAA first round match Friday, beating No. 7 seed South Dakota State 3-1. The Wildcats face host Stanford in the second round Saturday.