TEMPE, Ariz.--The Arizona State volleyball team (2-1) returns to the road this week, traveling to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Hawkeye Classic on Friday and Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
On Friday, ASU takes on Butler (2-2) at Noon PT/2 p.m. CT, followed by a match against the Hawkeyes (3-0) at 5 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT. On Saturday, the Sun Devils will wrap the weekend with their first-ever meeting with Oakland (2-1) at 10:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. CT.
ASU's match at Iowa, a rematch of the 2014 contest at Wells Fargo Arena, will be streamed on BTN Plus.
How To Follow
Live Stream vs. Iowa via BTN Plus (Subscription Required)
Live stats vs. Butler
Live stats vs. Iowa
Live stats vs. Oakland
Making The Road Their Home
The Sun Devil volleyball #RoadWarriors will open the 2016 season with an unprecedented 14 consecutive matches before the home opener at Wells Fargo Arena.
For the second half of the non-conference schedule, ASU will play three matches at the LBSU Baden Invitational on Sept. 9-10, and three final non-conference matches at the Boise State Classic on Sept. 16-17
The first two matches of Pac-12 Conference play will also be on the road, with the Sun Devils opening the league slate in Tucson on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The final date of the 14-match road swing is Saturday, Sept. 24, when the Sun Devils travel to Salt Lake City to take on Utah.
Including the final three matches of the 2015 season, the Sun Devils will not have played a match at home since Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015. This marks a stretch of 17 matches outside of Wells Fargo Arena.
ASU will open the 2016 home slate on Friday, Sept. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 2 against Oregon and Oregon State, respectively.
Miles Traveled In 2016:
WK 1: Tempe to Albuquerque - 822 round trip miles (822 total miles)
Mussie Earns First Head Coaching Victory
Head coach Stevie Mussie earned her first victory as a head coach on Friday, Aug. 26, as the Sun Devils opened the season with a 3-0 win over Fairfield at the UNM Tournament in Albuquerque.
Junior Oluoma Okaro led the way with a career high 16 kills on .682 attacking, while she, senior Maya McClendon (15 kills), and freshman Ivana Jeremic (10 kills) combined for 41 of ASU's 52 kills.
Harker Nearing 1,000 Digs
Coming into this weekend's matches, junior libero Halle Harker has racked up 989 digs so far in her career, and looks to become the 19th Sun Devil in program history to reach the 1,000-dig mark.
In 2014, Harker recorded a freshman-record 521 digs, which rounds out ASU's single-season top-10. That number includes the 33 digs against Oregon State on Nov. 13 and the 34 that followed two days later against Oregon, which still stands as the best mark by a freshman at ASU.
The most recent Sun Devil to reach the 1,000-dig mark was Macey Gardner in 2015. Gardner finished her career 16th all-time with 1,093 digs. ASU's school record for digs was set in 2007 when Sydney Donahue capped her career with a Pac-12 (then Pac-10) record 2,385 digs.
Harker's Digs By Season
2014: 521
2015: 423
2016: 45 and counting
Pickrell, McClendon Nearing Career Kill Milestones
Senior outside hitters Cassidy Pickrell and Maya McClendon are on the verge of recording the 1000th kill of their respective careers.
Pickrell, who joined the Sun Devils prior to the 2015 season, came to ASU with 652 kills under her belt, and coming into this weekend sits 19 kills from 1,000, with 981.
McClendon, who joined the Sun Devils prior to this season, had 874 kills, and coming into this weekend is 98 kills from 1,000, with 898.
Sun Devils On Verge Of Program's 700th Win
Now in its 43rd season, the Arizona State volleyball team is five wins away from the program's 700th.
ASU's first-ever victory is believed to have been on Sept. 24, 1973, in a 3-0 sweep of in-state foe Northern Arizona.
ASU's Milestone Wins:
1-ASU 3, NAU 0 (15-6, 15-1, 15-2) (Sept. 24, 1973)
100-ASU 3, Mesa CC 0 (16-14, 15-9, 15-7) (Sept. 19, 1979)
200-ASU 3, California 1 (14-16, 21-19, 15-5, 15-10 (Oct. 5, 1984)
300-ASU 3, Oregon State 0 (15-12, 15-7, 15-6) (Sept. 15, 1989)
400-ASU 3, San Diego State 2 (15-13, 6-15, 9-15, 15-6, 15-12 (Dec. 3, 1994)
500-ASU 3, Arizona 0 (33-31, 30-26, 42-40) (Sept. 27, 2002)
600-ASU 3, USC 1 (29-27, 25-23, 14-25, 25-23 (Oct. 15, 2010)
2016 All-Tournament Team Selections
Aug. 26-27 UNM Tournament
Oluoma Okaro (MVP)
Kylie Pickrell (All-Tournament Team)
Meet The Team
The Seniors
Outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell and libero Mia Mazon are back for their senior seasons, along with the new addition of Maya McClendon, an outside hitter from Louisville, who made the move to Tempe for her final season.
Pickrell led the Sun Devils with 304 kills last season, while Mazon made appearances throughout the year as a defensive specalist. In 2015 in Louisville, McClendon played in 28 matches, and posted a season high 17 kills on .317 attacking in the NCAA Tournament Second-Round matchup with Illinois.
The Juniors
Libero Halle Harker is back for her third season with the Sun Devils, joined by fellow defensive specalist Blair Robalin and University of San Francisco transfer Oluoma Okaro, a middle blocker.
Harker posted 423 digs last season, bringing her career total to 944. Harker looks to surpass the 1,000-dig threshold this season, making her the 19th Sun Devil all time to do so.
Last season at San Francisco, Okaro posted 96 total blocks, the second-most on the team, and also recorded 260 kills on .313 attacking.
The Sophomores
Setter Kylie Pickrell, middle blocker Jasmine Koonts, and outside hitter Lexi MacLean are back for their sophomore seasons, joined by Denver transfer Caroline Pearson, a setter, and American University transfer Carmen Unzue, a middle blocker.
Last season, Pickrell recorded 469 assists and 156 digs, while Koonts was fourth on the team in blocks with 52. MacLean, who made her Sun Devil debut midway through the 2015 season, finished the year with 80 kills.
At Denver, Pearson played in seven matches, and recorded a career high 17 assists against North Dakota State on Oct. 18. The 2015 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Unzue recorded 142 kills on .332 attacking, an added 77 blocks to her freshman season.
The Freshmen
The Sun Devils have six freshman on the 2016 roster: libero Courtney Leffel (Flagstaff, Ariz./Flagstaff HS), setter Nicole Peterson (Portland, Ore./Jesuit), middle blocker Mmachi Nwoke (Grand Prairie, Texas/South Grand Prairie HS), libero Halle Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic Prep), outside hitter Olivia Whittingham (Lemont, Ill./Lemont Township HS), and Ivana Jeremic (Gornji Milanovic, Serbia/Gimnazija 'Takovski Ustanak').
Meet The Coaches
Stevie Mussie Named Arizona State's Volleyball Coach
Arizona State University and Vice President for University Athletics and Athletics Director Ray Anderson announced the hiring of Stevie Mussie as Director of Volleyball on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
Prior to her move to Tempe, Mussie was an assistant at Penn State for two seasons. She helped the Nittany Lions to the 2014 NCAA Championships, the seventh in program history, and served as a mentor to six AVCA All-Americans, including 2014 National Freshman Of The Year, outside hitter Ali Frantti.
As an athlete for the University of Washington, Mussie was on the 2005 NCAA Championship team, and was the 2006 Seattle Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Mussie Adds Chris Rose To Staff
On Tuesday, March 1, Stevie Mussie announced the addition of Chris Rose to the Sun Devil Volleyball coaching staff as an assistant.
Rose comes to ASU after spending this past season an assistant at East Carolina University, and prior to that he served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Buffalo.
Rose was in college at Penn State, serving as the head student manager for the volleyball program, while Mussie served as an assistant coach under Nittany Lion head coach Russ Rose.
Mussie Adds Former Teammate Sanja Tomasevic To Staff
On Monday, March 14, Stevie Mussie announced that Sanja Tomasevic joined the Sun Devil Volleyball program as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Prior to making the move to Tempe, Tomasevic spent two years at the University of Miami, helping the Hurricanes to their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. She also coached at UTSA, and played eight years of professional volleyball, and was a member of the Serbian National Team.
A two-time All-American and the 2005 Asics and CVU.com National Player of the Year, Tomasevic helped lead the University of Washington to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2005 NCAA Championship and a pair of Pac-10 Conference titles.
Mussie Adds 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist Tamari Miyashrio As Volunteer Assistant
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, Stevie Mussie announced that former United State's Women's National Team libero Tamari Miyashiro will serve as a volunteer assistant coach for Sun Devil Volleyball.
Miyashiro joined the U.S. Women's National Team in 2010 and helped the squad to a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. In 2011, Miyashiro and Team USA won gold at the FIVB World Grand Prix in Macau and silver at the 2011 World Cup in Japan. In her debut with the national team, she helped the national team to a third-place finish at the 2010 Pan American games.
In college at the University of Washington, Miyashiro was the 2007 and 2008 National Defensive Player of the Year while she served as the libero. She was a three-time AVCA All-American and earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts in 2009. She finished her Husky career with records for digs (2,382) and digs per set (5.36).
Sun Devil Volleyball Earns AVCA Academic Award
The Arizona State volleyball team earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2015-16 season, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced on Monday, July 25.
The award originated with the 1992-93 academic year, honoring teams that maintained at least a 3.30 team GPA. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the Sun Devils have been recognized by the AVCA, this year totaling a team GPA of 3.36.
Following the 2015 season, the Pac-12 Conference recognized seven Sun Devil student-athletes for their academic accomplishments: Kizzy Ricedorff (First Team), Bianca Arellano (Second Team), Bree Bailey (Honorable Mention), Mercedes Binns (Honorable Mention), Whitney Follette (Honorable Mention), Macey Gardner (Honorable Mention), and Halle Harker (Honorable Mention).
On Friday, ASU takes on Butler (2-2) at Noon PT/2 p.m. CT, followed by a match against the Hawkeyes (3-0) at 5 p.m. PT/7 p.m. CT. On Saturday, the Sun Devils will wrap the weekend with their first-ever meeting with Oakland (2-1) at 10:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. CT.
ASU's match at Iowa, a rematch of the 2014 contest at Wells Fargo Arena, will be streamed on BTN Plus.
How To Follow
Live Stream vs. Iowa via BTN Plus (Subscription Required)
Live stats vs. Butler
Live stats vs. Iowa
Live stats vs. Oakland
Making The Road Their Home
The Sun Devil volleyball #RoadWarriors will open the 2016 season with an unprecedented 14 consecutive matches before the home opener at Wells Fargo Arena.
For the second half of the non-conference schedule, ASU will play three matches at the LBSU Baden Invitational on Sept. 9-10, and three final non-conference matches at the Boise State Classic on Sept. 16-17
The first two matches of Pac-12 Conference play will also be on the road, with the Sun Devils opening the league slate in Tucson on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The final date of the 14-match road swing is Saturday, Sept. 24, when the Sun Devils travel to Salt Lake City to take on Utah.
Including the final three matches of the 2015 season, the Sun Devils will not have played a match at home since Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015. This marks a stretch of 17 matches outside of Wells Fargo Arena.
ASU will open the 2016 home slate on Friday, Sept. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 2 against Oregon and Oregon State, respectively.
Miles Traveled In 2016:
WK 1: Tempe to Albuquerque - 822 round trip miles (822 total miles)
Mussie Earns First Head Coaching Victory
Head coach Stevie Mussie earned her first victory as a head coach on Friday, Aug. 26, as the Sun Devils opened the season with a 3-0 win over Fairfield at the UNM Tournament in Albuquerque.
Junior Oluoma Okaro led the way with a career high 16 kills on .682 attacking, while she, senior Maya McClendon (15 kills), and freshman Ivana Jeremic (10 kills) combined for 41 of ASU's 52 kills.
Harker Nearing 1,000 Digs
Coming into this weekend's matches, junior libero Halle Harker has racked up 989 digs so far in her career, and looks to become the 19th Sun Devil in program history to reach the 1,000-dig mark.
In 2014, Harker recorded a freshman-record 521 digs, which rounds out ASU's single-season top-10. That number includes the 33 digs against Oregon State on Nov. 13 and the 34 that followed two days later against Oregon, which still stands as the best mark by a freshman at ASU.
The most recent Sun Devil to reach the 1,000-dig mark was Macey Gardner in 2015. Gardner finished her career 16th all-time with 1,093 digs. ASU's school record for digs was set in 2007 when Sydney Donahue capped her career with a Pac-12 (then Pac-10) record 2,385 digs.
Harker's Digs By Season
2014: 521
2015: 423
2016: 45 and counting
Pickrell, McClendon Nearing Career Kill Milestones
Senior outside hitters Cassidy Pickrell and Maya McClendon are on the verge of recording the 1000th kill of their respective careers.
Pickrell, who joined the Sun Devils prior to the 2015 season, came to ASU with 652 kills under her belt, and coming into this weekend sits 19 kills from 1,000, with 981.
McClendon, who joined the Sun Devils prior to this season, had 874 kills, and coming into this weekend is 98 kills from 1,000, with 898.
Sun Devils On Verge Of Program's 700th Win
Now in its 43rd season, the Arizona State volleyball team is five wins away from the program's 700th.
ASU's first-ever victory is believed to have been on Sept. 24, 1973, in a 3-0 sweep of in-state foe Northern Arizona.
ASU's Milestone Wins:
1-ASU 3, NAU 0 (15-6, 15-1, 15-2) (Sept. 24, 1973)
100-ASU 3, Mesa CC 0 (16-14, 15-9, 15-7) (Sept. 19, 1979)
200-ASU 3, California 1 (14-16, 21-19, 15-5, 15-10 (Oct. 5, 1984)
300-ASU 3, Oregon State 0 (15-12, 15-7, 15-6) (Sept. 15, 1989)
400-ASU 3, San Diego State 2 (15-13, 6-15, 9-15, 15-6, 15-12 (Dec. 3, 1994)
500-ASU 3, Arizona 0 (33-31, 30-26, 42-40) (Sept. 27, 2002)
600-ASU 3, USC 1 (29-27, 25-23, 14-25, 25-23 (Oct. 15, 2010)
2016 All-Tournament Team Selections
Aug. 26-27 UNM Tournament
Oluoma Okaro (MVP)
Kylie Pickrell (All-Tournament Team)
Meet The Team
The Seniors
Outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell and libero Mia Mazon are back for their senior seasons, along with the new addition of Maya McClendon, an outside hitter from Louisville, who made the move to Tempe for her final season.
Pickrell led the Sun Devils with 304 kills last season, while Mazon made appearances throughout the year as a defensive specalist. In 2015 in Louisville, McClendon played in 28 matches, and posted a season high 17 kills on .317 attacking in the NCAA Tournament Second-Round matchup with Illinois.
The Juniors
Libero Halle Harker is back for her third season with the Sun Devils, joined by fellow defensive specalist Blair Robalin and University of San Francisco transfer Oluoma Okaro, a middle blocker.
Harker posted 423 digs last season, bringing her career total to 944. Harker looks to surpass the 1,000-dig threshold this season, making her the 19th Sun Devil all time to do so.
Last season at San Francisco, Okaro posted 96 total blocks, the second-most on the team, and also recorded 260 kills on .313 attacking.
The Sophomores
Setter Kylie Pickrell, middle blocker Jasmine Koonts, and outside hitter Lexi MacLean are back for their sophomore seasons, joined by Denver transfer Caroline Pearson, a setter, and American University transfer Carmen Unzue, a middle blocker.
Last season, Pickrell recorded 469 assists and 156 digs, while Koonts was fourth on the team in blocks with 52. MacLean, who made her Sun Devil debut midway through the 2015 season, finished the year with 80 kills.
At Denver, Pearson played in seven matches, and recorded a career high 17 assists against North Dakota State on Oct. 18. The 2015 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Unzue recorded 142 kills on .332 attacking, an added 77 blocks to her freshman season.
The Freshmen
The Sun Devils have six freshman on the 2016 roster: libero Courtney Leffel (Flagstaff, Ariz./Flagstaff HS), setter Nicole Peterson (Portland, Ore./Jesuit), middle blocker Mmachi Nwoke (Grand Prairie, Texas/South Grand Prairie HS), libero Halle Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic Prep), outside hitter Olivia Whittingham (Lemont, Ill./Lemont Township HS), and Ivana Jeremic (Gornji Milanovic, Serbia/Gimnazija 'Takovski Ustanak').
Meet The Coaches
Stevie Mussie Named Arizona State's Volleyball Coach
Arizona State University and Vice President for University Athletics and Athletics Director Ray Anderson announced the hiring of Stevie Mussie as Director of Volleyball on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
Prior to her move to Tempe, Mussie was an assistant at Penn State for two seasons. She helped the Nittany Lions to the 2014 NCAA Championships, the seventh in program history, and served as a mentor to six AVCA All-Americans, including 2014 National Freshman Of The Year, outside hitter Ali Frantti.
As an athlete for the University of Washington, Mussie was on the 2005 NCAA Championship team, and was the 2006 Seattle Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Mussie Adds Chris Rose To Staff
On Tuesday, March 1, Stevie Mussie announced the addition of Chris Rose to the Sun Devil Volleyball coaching staff as an assistant.
Rose comes to ASU after spending this past season an assistant at East Carolina University, and prior to that he served as a volunteer assistant at the University of Buffalo.
Rose was in college at Penn State, serving as the head student manager for the volleyball program, while Mussie served as an assistant coach under Nittany Lion head coach Russ Rose.
Mussie Adds Former Teammate Sanja Tomasevic To Staff
On Monday, March 14, Stevie Mussie announced that Sanja Tomasevic joined the Sun Devil Volleyball program as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Prior to making the move to Tempe, Tomasevic spent two years at the University of Miami, helping the Hurricanes to their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. She also coached at UTSA, and played eight years of professional volleyball, and was a member of the Serbian National Team.
A two-time All-American and the 2005 Asics and CVU.com National Player of the Year, Tomasevic helped lead the University of Washington to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2005 NCAA Championship and a pair of Pac-10 Conference titles.
Mussie Adds 2012 Olympic Silver Medalist Tamari Miyashrio As Volunteer Assistant
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, Stevie Mussie announced that former United State's Women's National Team libero Tamari Miyashiro will serve as a volunteer assistant coach for Sun Devil Volleyball.
Miyashiro joined the U.S. Women's National Team in 2010 and helped the squad to a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. In 2011, Miyashiro and Team USA won gold at the FIVB World Grand Prix in Macau and silver at the 2011 World Cup in Japan. In her debut with the national team, she helped the national team to a third-place finish at the 2010 Pan American games.
In college at the University of Washington, Miyashiro was the 2007 and 2008 National Defensive Player of the Year while she served as the libero. She was a three-time AVCA All-American and earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts in 2009. She finished her Husky career with records for digs (2,382) and digs per set (5.36).
Sun Devil Volleyball Earns AVCA Academic Award
The Arizona State volleyball team earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2015-16 season, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced on Monday, July 25.
The award originated with the 1992-93 academic year, honoring teams that maintained at least a 3.30 team GPA. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the Sun Devils have been recognized by the AVCA, this year totaling a team GPA of 3.36.
Following the 2015 season, the Pac-12 Conference recognized seven Sun Devil student-athletes for their academic accomplishments: Kizzy Ricedorff (First Team), Bianca Arellano (Second Team), Bree Bailey (Honorable Mention), Mercedes Binns (Honorable Mention), Whitney Follette (Honorable Mention), Macey Gardner (Honorable Mention), and Halle Harker (Honorable Mention).