#13 Volleyball Hits the Road for Pair of Ranked Matchups

October 29, 2024

No. 13 Sun Devil Volleyball will head to Utah in hopes of adding to their current eight-match win streak, first facing No. 20 BYU on Thursday before taking on No. 22 Utah on Saturday.

Game Notes /// 2024 Volleyball Notables

How to follow

Arizona State will begin the road trip in Provo, facing BYU on Thursday (October 31) at 7 p.m. MDT/6 p.m. MST. The Sun Devils defeated the Cougars in straight sets in their first meeting of the season on October 4.

Saturday afternoon (November 2), Arizona State will head to Salt Lake City to take on Utah, with the match slated for 2 p.m. MDT/1 p.m. MST at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats as well. Updates will be provided on social media on X (@SunDevilVB) and Instagram (@sundevilvolleyball).

Sun Devil Outlook

No 13. Arizona State (20-2, 8-1 Big 12)

The Sun Devils picked up two in-state wins this week, with a home victory over non-conference opponent GCU (3-0) and a victory in Tucson over Arizona (3-1). The win over Arizona secured back-to-back Territorial Cup series points for the program, going 4-0 against Arizona in the past two seasons.
This is the second year in the row the Sun Devils have had a 20-win season, the 13th time in program history and fourth time this century. Only two other times has ASU had consecutive 20-win seasons (1992-93, 1985-86).
The Sun Devils are undefeated against unranked teams this season and 2-1 against ranked opponents. The ranked wins have come against No. 22 TCU on the road and against No. 20 BYU in Tempe.
Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr has been on fire, posting double-doubles in six-straight matches. She has posted double-digit kills in the last six matches, her longest such streak of her career. Cyr has now eclipsed 200+ kills and 200+ digs on the season, with a team leading 270 kills in addition to 201 digs. She is just 42 kills away from 1,000 in her career.
Graduate Libero Mary Shroll continued adding on to her outstanding season by leading all players in digs in victories over GCU and Arizona with 15 and 19, respectively. Shroll is currently leading the Big 12 with 371 digs on the season, and in digs per set with 5.10, which is the 15th-best mark in the nation.
In the AVCA Coaches Poll, Arizona State remains at No. 13. The Sun Devils have been ranked in 20 consecutive polls, 16 of which have been in the top 20. No. 13 is the highest ranking under the tenure of Head Coach JJ Van Niel.
These will be the second matchups of the year against BYU and Utah. Arizona State picked up home wins over both BYU (3-0) and Utah (3-1) in the first matches of the season. The Sun Devils will look to sweep the season series against both respective teams for the first time in the Big 12 era.

Opponent Outlook

No. 20 BYU (13-6, 6-3 Big 12)

The Cougars had just one match last week. BYU traveled to Boulder, taking on Colorado and picking up a 3-1 win over the Buffs on the road.
BYU logged a 25-7 season in 2023, with their season ending at the hands of Arizona State. The Sun Devils picked up a 3-0 win to eliminate BYU in the second round of the NCAA tournament in the Smith Fieldhouse, the last time ASU was there.
BYU leads the all-time series against Arizona State 18-6, with the first matchup dating back to 1973. ASU has won the last two, including a 3-0 sweep in Tempe this season on October 4.

No. 22 Utah (16-4, 6-3 Big 12)

Utah continued conference play over the past week with contests against Kansas State and then-No. 9 Kansas. The Utes went 1-1 in that stretch with a win over the Wildcats (3-1) and a loss to the Jayhawks (0-3).
Utah holds a narrow 20-18 all-time series lead over Arizona State, though ASU has won the last four-consecutive matchups. The teams played each other in Tempe on October 2 of this year, the Sun Devils winning that one in four.
JJ Van Niel is a former assistant of Utah head coach Beth Launiere.