Sun Devil Athletics record book

Best starts in Sun Devil history

Men’s basketball (2017-18)

Bobby Hurley's third season saw the Sun Devils start 12-0, with mammoth wins away from home over second-ranked Kansas and eventual No. 1 seed Xavier in Las Vegas. The 12 straight wins was the second-best streak in school history, behind the 1961-62 team that won 18 straight games. ASU reached as high as No. 3 in the rankings. ASU finished 20-12 overall and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 and just fourth time in past 23 seasons. 

The great start led to an average 10,603 fans, topping the previous school record of 9,514 set in 1995-96. ASU was the last undefeated team in nation, beat No. 1 seeds Xavier and Kansas along with Kansas State in its non-conference action and went 5-2 against NCAA Tournament teams, also topping UCLA and San Diego State. The Dec. 10 win at No. 2 Kansas marked the highest out of conference ranked opponent the Sun Devils had defeated and also marked ASU's first road win over a ranked team since James Harden led ASU to a win at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17, 2009.

Volleyball (1973)

The inaugural season of Sun Devil Volleyball featured a perfect 21-0 season under Mary Littlewood with a perfect 8-0 conference record. The team only managed to drop two sets for the entire season and swept through the competition becoming AIAW champions in the 1973 season. Fifty seasons later, the team was recognized on Sept. 24 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration when the Sun Devils defeated Washington 3-1 to keep their perfect record to begin the season. The day prior, the team alongside Mary Littlewood held a reunion at Old Main recalling the 1973 volleyball team that played their games at PE East (Now Bulldog Hall), only for fifty years to pass to watch the Sun Devils play in front of a sell out crowd at Mullett Arena.

Volleyball (2015)

Jordan Watson's eighth season at the helm of Sun Devil Volleyball provided a swift 15-0 start to the season that featured 10 sweeps and victories over No. 8 Stanford for the first time since 2000 on Oct. 2. During the 15 game winning streak the maroon and gold also defeated No. 14 Arizona, and No. 6 Illinois in a five set thriller. The 15-0 start for the Sun Devils is currently the second longest in program history only behind the 1973 team that started out winning 21 straight games. The 15-game stretch also saw Sun Devil Volleyball reach its highest ranking in program history after a victory against California that bolted the team to No. 5 in the nation after beginning the year ranked No. 16 in the preseason. The team would finish the season 19-13 and occupied a spot in the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The squad held an 12-3 record at home including going 5-1 on a neutral court. The team features All-American Honorable Mention Whitney Follette, who also occupied a spot on the Pac-12 All-Conference team, alongside Bree Bailey. 

Water Polo (2012)

The 2012 season marked the most successful year in program history for the ASU water polo team as the squad finished fifth in the nation according to the final CWPA Coaches Poll. The team started 13-0, outscoring the opposition 169-80 in the 13-game span to begin the season and finished the year with a 25-6 record, smashing the then-school record in victories and posted a fifth place finish at the MPSF Championships. The team was 4-3 in Conference play, earning its first MPSF regular season victory since 2008 with a win over San Diego State on March 3, 2012. On an individual level, transfer Alicia Brightwell became just the second Sun Devil in school history to earn first team All-America honors from the AWPCA. 

After being named to the third team, junior center Shannon Haas earned her first All-America honor, while Mariam Salloum was an honorable mention. Brightwell notched 75 goals during the season to lead the nation in scoring, and her 2.78 goals per game paced the MPSF Conference. Brightwell scored three or more goals in 18 games in the year, and her 75 goals rank second on ASU's all-time single-season scoring list. Brightwell had 96 points in the year, the second-highest in school history. Freshman Anna Kertes was named to the All-Newcomer team after scoring 47 goals in the year, tied for second among conference freshmen, and ranked second all-time on ASU's freshmen single-season goals list. The team blasted its school record in goals scored with 376 and scored in double digits 21 times on the year. Todd Clapper posted his 100th victory as head coach of the Sun Devils and 200th career victory overall during the season.

Women’s Golf (1994-95)

What if we told you, a women's golf team won every tournament it played? Well, that happened in 1994-95 with the Sun Devils under head coach Linda Vollstedt who won its third straight title. The team won each event by an average of 25 shots. It had just one tie, as San Jose State and ASU tied at 878 in Tucson. ASU had the individual winner in nine out of 10 tournaments. At the Pac-10 Conference Championships, ASU won the team title, the individual title (Wendy Ward), and placed all five players on the All-Pac-10 Team. Wendy Ward was named the Conference Player of the Year. ASU won the team title by 33 strokes. ASU won the NCAA title by 26 shots over San Jose State and 29 shots over Wake Forest, Kristel Mourgue d’Algue was the individual winner, and Wendy Ward tied for runner-up honors.

Best single game and event performances in Sun Devil history

Football
Kalen Ballage scores eight touchdowns to Beat Texas Tech, Sept. 10, 2016

Kalen Ballage tied an FBS record with eight touchdowns in Arizona State's 68-55 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Sun Devil Stadium on a hot September night in 2016. Ballage, who was responsible for eight of ASU's nine touchdowns, finished with 137 rushing yards and 48 receiving yards and his eight touchdowns tied Howard Griffith (Illinois, 1990) for the NCAA single-game record. His record-setting night also included breaking the Pac-12 record for most touchdowns scored and most rushing touchdowns by a single player in conference history.

Men’s Basketball
Eddie House matches Pac-10 record at Cal in double OT win, Jan. 8, 2000

Eddie House scored 61 points, and Arizona State needed every one of them in a win of 111-108 in California in January of 2000. He tied Lew Alcindor's Pac-10 record. House had the most points by a major college player since Kansas State's Askia Jones scored 62 against Fresno State on March 24, 1994. House was 18-for-30 from the field, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range, and made 18 of 19 free throws, surpassing his own school record and tying Alcindor's 33-year-old Pac-10 record. Alcindor scored 61 points for UCLA against Washington State on Feb. 25, 1967. House scored 44 points after halftime, including 12 straight at one point to put Arizona State up 56-49 with 13:40 left.

Men’s Golf 

Paul Casey shoots 60 to win Pac-10 Title in Seattle, April 28, 1999
Sophomore Paul Casey shot a collegiate record score of 60 in the final round of the 1999 Pac-10 Championships to defeat. Stanford's Joel Kribel by two strokes for his second consecutive Pac-10 individual title at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle, Wash. ASU won its fifth straight Pac-10 team title, defeating second-place UCLA by 21 strokes. Casey's 60 surpassed Tiger Woods' 61 at the 1996 Pac-10 Championships, the lowest NCAA round. Casey won last year's Pac-10 title after returning from a nine-stroke deficit on the final day. He trailed Kribel by eight strokes coming into today's final round. Casey's four-round total of 265 is a Pac-10 Championship record. Woods' holds the conference mark for strokes under par with an 18-under score of 270 in 1996. Casey's mark was 15-under par.

Men’s Basketball

Mark Lansberger grabs 27 rebounds, Dec. 3, 1976
Mark Lansberger grabbed 27 rebounds with 13 points in an early December game against San Diego State to set the school rebounding effort. It topped the 26 rebounds by Tony Cerkvenik -- who also had 27 points -- at Arizona on March 4, 1963.

Men’s Basketball

Tony Cerkvenik gets a 27/26 game, Mar. 4, 1963 

Talk about having a big rivalry game. Tony Cerkvenik gave Arizona State 27 points and grabbed 26 rebounds in a March contest.