TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State volleyball team (10-18, 0-16 Pac-12) hits the road this weekend for the first half of a four-match road swing, set to take on No. 17 Utah (19-8, 10-6 Pac-12) and Colorado (19-8, 9-7 Pac-12), on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. MT starts, with Friday's match with the Utes set to be televised via Pac-12 Network with Thad Anderson on the call. Saturday's tilt with the Buffaloes will be streamed courtesy of Colorado's Pac-12 live stream.
How To Follow The Action
Utah - Watch | Live Stats
Colorado - Watch | Live Stats
Scouting The Opposition:
No. 17 Utah (19-8, 10-6 Pac-12)
Season Averages/Conference/National Ranking -- Hitting Percentage (.254/3/38); Kills/s (14.45/1/12); Assists/s (13.71/1/10); Digs/s (15.71/3/108); Aces/s (0.94/11/304); Blocks/s (2.92/4/31); Opponent Hitting Percentage (.194/4/123).
Categorical Leaders -- Kills/s (Adora Anae, 4.31); Assists/s (Bailey Choy, 9.50); Aces/s (Shannon Scully, 0.19); Digs/s (Adora Anae, 3.18); Blocks/s (Tawnee Luafalemana, 1.20).
Colorado (19-8, 9-7 Pac-12)
Season Averages/Conference/National Ranking -- Hitting Percentage (.247/7/53); Kills/s (13.55/7/69); Assists/s (12.65/6/67); Digs/s (15.11/5/153); Aces/s (1.00/9/276); Blocks/s (2.35/7/62); Opponent Hitting Percentage (.200/8/153).
Categorical Leaders -- Kills/s (Alexa Smith, 3.93); Assists/s (Brynna DeLuzio, 10.86); Aces/s (Brynna DeLuzio, 0.23); Digs/s (Gabby Carta-Samuels, 3.62); Blocks/s (Naghede Abu, 1.19).
All-Time Series Records
Utah - ASU Lead, 13-12 (H: 7-5, A: 3-6, N: 3-1)
Colorado - ASU Lead, 9-5 (H: 6-2, A: 2-3, N: 1-0)
Last Time Out_The Sun Devils played host to No. 16 Oregon and Oregon State, dropping the matches by counts of 3-0 and 3-2, respectively.
-@SunDevilVB Takes Oregon State To Five Sets: The Sun Devils fell to the Oregon State (19-9, 9-7 Pac-12) in a tight five set match, 25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 11-15 on Senior Night Saturday in Wells Fargo Arena. In fitting fashion on senior night, Oluoma Okaro put together an outstanding last performance at Wells Fargo leading the Sun Devils with 26 kills. Okaro was on fire, attacking at a .351 clip while adding 16 digs for her 10 double-double of the season. Okaro was assisted offensively by Greire Hughes and Ivana Jeremic who both eclipsed the double-digit kill mark with 17 and 10 respectively. Both Jeremic (13) and Hughes (10) added career-highs in digs, collecting their fifth and first double-doubles of the season, respectively. Hughes obliterated her previous career-high of six digs. Setter Nicole Peterson distributed the offensive attack brilliantly, notching a career-high 56 assists. Peterson's total represents her third 50-assist performance of the season and sixth 40-assist performance. Courtney Leffel matched a career-high with 16 digs. Five Sun Devils totaled at least ten digs, led by a 29-dig outing from senior libero Halle Harker. Harker moved her career digs total to 1,947, good enough for third in school history.
-@SunDevilVB Falls To No. 16 Oregon, 3-0: The Sun Devils fell to the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (16-7, 9-6 Pac-12) in three sets, 17-25, 23-25, 22-25, Thursday evening in Wells Fargo Arena. Freshman Griere Hughes led the Sun Devils with 11 kills on .360 attacking, her 16th double-digit kills match of the season. Junior Carmen Unzue and freshman Megan Beedie added eight kills each. Sophomore Nicole Peterson recorded 28 assists.Senior Halle Harker posted 18 digs on the evening, bringing her career total to 1,918.
Coaching Note_With head coach Sanja Tomasevic not slated to travel due to the recent birth of her daughter Stella, Carlos Moreno will continue to serve as interim head coach.
New Year, Same Oly_In each of Arizona State's four tournaments during the non-conference slate Oluoma Okaro garnered all-tournament team recognition. After collecting MVP honors at the Arizona State-hosted Sun Devil Classic, Aug. 25-26, Okaro went on to net placement on the all-tournament teams of the Gonzaga Invitational (Sep. 1-2) and Lumberjack Classic (Sep. 8-9), and Maverick Classic (Sep. 15-16), respectively. Having paced the Sun Devils on the attack in 19 of the team's 28 matches on the season, Okaro boasts a kills per set average of 4.39, marking the third-best tally in the conference and the 19th-best in the country. Her points per set average of 5.02 accounts for the third-best in the league and 18th-best in the country, while her 10 double-doubles on the campaign sits in a tie for the eighth most in the Pac-12.
Okaro's Career Day_Oluoma Okaro was a bright spot in Arizona State's five-set, 3-2 loss to No. 7 Washington on Sep. 24, recording a career high 30 kills on .414 attacking. The senior's 30 kills tie for the most kills in a single match by a Sun Devil in the rally scoring era (since 2001) with current assistant coach Macey Gardner (9/24/14 at Arizona) and former standout Sarah Reaves (9/20/08 vs. W. Kentucky). Okaro now holds the season best mark for kills in the Pac-12 Conference, surpassing Stanford's Kathryn Plummer's 27 kills from Sept. 1.
Pac-12 Individual Match Highs | Kills
-- 30 (30- 6-58) 5s Okaro, Oluoma (Arizona State) vs Washington (Sep 24, 2017)
-- 28 (28-6-55) 5s Mosser, Jenny (UCLA) at Colorado (Oct. 21, 2017)
-- 27 (27- 5-50) 4s Plummer, Kathryn (Stanford) vs Penn State (Sep 01, 2017)
-- 26 (26- 6-57) 5s Anae, Adora (Utah) at Kentucky (Aug 25, 2017)
-- 25 (25-9-61) 5s Anae, Adora (Utah) at Washington (Oct. 6, 2017)
-- 25 (25-10-68) 5s Smith, Alexa (Colorado) vs Stanford (Sep 24, 2017)
-- 25 (25- 7-58) 5s Smith, Alexa (Colorado) at Colorado State (Sep 16, 2017)
Arizona State Individual Match Records (Rally Scoring Era) | Kills
-- Macey Gardner (9/24/14 at Arizona) 30
-- Sarah Reaves (9/20/08 vs. W. Kentucky) 30
-- Oluoma Okaro (11/24/17 vs. UW) 30
-- Macey Gardner (11/21/14 at WSU) 29
-- Macey Gardner (10/24/13 at Utah) 29
-- Macey Gardner (11/15/14 vs. Oregon) 28
-- Macey Gardner (8/31/12 at UC Irvine) 28
-- Sarah Reaves (9/27/07 vs. Oregon) 28
Hark! The Halle Digs_Sun Devil senior libero Halle Harker's career digs tally of 1,947 marks the third-best in Arizona State program history, and also constitutes the 11th most in the NCAA among active players. The Pac-12 conference's current leader in digs per set at a clip of 5.39, Harker sits 20th in the nation in that category.
ASU Career Digs Leaders
1. Sydney Donahue, 2004-07 – 2385
2. Stephanie Preach, 2010-13 – 2010
3. Halle Harker, 2014-present – 1947
4. Christy Nore, 1985-88 – 1597
5. Jami Coughlin, 1998-2001 – 1528
Harker's Digs By Season
-- 2014: 521
-- 2015: 423
-- 2016: 459
-- 2017: 544 and counting...
Arizona State Single-Season Digs Leaders
1. 742, Sydney Donahue, 2006
2. 640, Sydney Donahue, 2007
3. 628, Sydney Donahue, 2005
4. 619, Stephanie Preach, 2012
5. 610, Stephanie Preach, 2011
6. 601, Mindy Gowell, 1990
7. 556, Christy Nore, 1988
8. 550, Stephanie Preach, 2013
9. 544, Halle Harker, 2017
10. 538,Kelly Plaisted, 1990
11. 521, Halle Harker, 2015
Harker Earns Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Honors_Following a historic outing at UT Arlington's Maverick Classic (Sep. 15-16), Harker garnered Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Sep. 18.The recognition represents the first of Harker's career, while marking the 22nd player of the week nod in Sun Devil program history. Buoying the Sun Devil defensive effort on the weekend, Harker compiled 61 digs (6.10 dps), while adding 18 assists, to help propel the Sun Devils (10-2), to perfect, 3-0 showing at the UT Arlington-hosted Maverick Classic. Most notably her 23-dig outing in Arizona State's 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19) over Houston Baptist on Sep. 16, moved her into third in Sun Devil program history in career digs.
Dishing On Peterson_Sun Devil sophomore Nicole Peterson has begun to assert herself as a force at the setter position for ASU. The Portland, Ore. native who has logged 14 starts on the season, boasts an assists per set tally of 10.15, good enough for the fifth-best mark in the conference. Peterson, notably logged a career-highs 56 assists against Oregon State on Nov. 11, representing her third 50+-assist performance of the season and sixth 40+-assist performance, respectively.
Taking The Reins_Coach Tomasevic is one of four newcomer head coaches in the Pac-12 conference this season. Tomasevic joins Matt Ulmer (Oregon), Matt McShane (California) and Kevin Hambly (Stanford) as first-year head coaches in the conference.
Been There, Done That_Arizona State's coaching staff - Sanja Tomasevic (head coach), Carlos Moreno (assistant coach), Macey Gardner (assistant coach), Nellie Coleman (director of operations) and Kyle Breitbarth (volunteer assistant coach) - boasts an impressive, collective playing resume. Head coach Sanja Tomasevic, was a two-time All-American and the 2005 Asics and CVU.com National Player of the Year at the University of Washington, and led the Huskies to four NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2005 National Championship, and a pair of Pac-10 Conference titles. In October of 2016, Tomasevic became just the second individual volleyball player to be inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame. The former outside hitter ended her collegiate career as Washington's all-time leader in points (2,159.5), kills (1,795) and service aces (156). She is one of only five players in Huskies history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Assistant Carlos Moreno compiled a prolific playing career as a setter at Brigham University, garnering essentially every national award possible, including AVCA and MPSF Player of the year honors. A three-year starter for the Cougars, Moreno amassed 4,628 career assists, marking the second-most in program in history, while adding 78 career aces (4th-most in program history). Spearheading BYU NCAA Championship runs in 2003 and 2004, Moreno earned a plethora of Player of the Year and MVP honors while also being placed on MSPF's and AVCA's respective first-teams. A two-time All-American and the 2004 AVCA National Player of the Year, Moreno led the Cougars to two NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2004 National Championship, and a pair of MPSF Conference titles. Assistant Macey Gardner is widely considered as of the greatest to ever don the Arizona State maroon and gold, and concluded her collegiate career as Arizona State's all-time kills leader with 1,882 to her credit. Arizona State's second ever three-time All-Pac-12 honoree, she was just the 17th Sun Devil to record 1,000 career digs, and just the 10th to record 1,000 or more kills and digs in her career. Director of operations Nellie Coleman compiled a prolific four-year career at UCLA as a setter, garnering a laundry list of accolades. A three-time AVCA First Team All-American, a three-time All-Pac-10 selectee, and three-time All-Pacific Region member, Coleman concluded her career as one of the best to ever don the UCLA gold and blue. Amassing exceptional career marks in assists (6,000/2nd most in program history) and digs (1,299/3rd most in program history), Coleman, formerly known as Nellie Spicer, anchored the Bruins to four postseason appearances including a Final Four Appearance in 2006. Sun Devil volunteer assistant Kyle Breitbarth competed as a member of the University of Illinois men's club volleyball team from 2010-16. Boasting an impressice collegiate career donning the Illini blue and orange, he was a member of the 2013 NCVF University of Illinois national championship team, while helping propel the squad to a Big Ten championship and program-best 71-11 record in 2016.
Youth Movement_A trio of Sun Devil true freshman including Griere Hughes, Shelbie Dobmeier and Megan Beedie, have shined over the course of the 2017 season. Hughes, an outside hitter from Fishers, Indiana, has notched double-figure kills tallies in 17 of Arizona State's 28 outings on the season. She currently boasts a kills per set average of 3.07. Dobmeier, a setter, from Lakewood, Calif, qualified as the Pac-12 assists leader for a span of six weeks, and sits with season tally of 10.47 to her credit. Beedie, a middle blocker from Cambridge, Ontario, has made five starts while making appearances in 14 matches on the season for the Sun Devils, logging 56 kills and 15 total blocks in that span.
There's No Place Like Home_Arizona State officially rang in the 2017 season playing host to the Sun Devils Classic, Aug. 25-26. The team exited the outing unscathed, garnering straight-set victories over Weber State, North Dakota State and 2016 NCAA tournament team Boise State respectively. Senior Oluoma Okaro paced Arizona State in kills in each of the team's three weekend matches to earn tournament MVP honors, while freshman setter Shelbie Dobmeier notched consecutive double-doubles to cap the tournament and earn selection to the Sun Devil Classic All-Tournament team. The Sun Devils are now 14-1 in home openers, dating back back to 2002.
Pac-12 Slate_Up next, the Sun Devils will round out their Pac-12 slate with trips to Washington State (Wednesday, Nov. 22) and Arizona (Saturday, Nov. 25).
Preseason Sun Devil All-Tournament Selections
--Sun Devil Classic (Aug. 25-26): Oluoma Okaro (MVP), Shelbie Dobmeier
--Gonzaga Invitational (Sep. 1-2): Oluoma Okaro
--Lumberjack Classic (Sep. 8-9): Halle Harker (MVP), Oluoma Okaro, Peyton Grahovac
--Maverick Classic (Sep. 15-16): Griere Hughes, Oluoma Okaro
Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. MT starts, with Friday's match with the Utes set to be televised via Pac-12 Network with Thad Anderson on the call. Saturday's tilt with the Buffaloes will be streamed courtesy of Colorado's Pac-12 live stream.
How To Follow The Action
Utah - Watch | Live Stats
Colorado - Watch | Live Stats
Scouting The Opposition:
No. 17 Utah (19-8, 10-6 Pac-12)
Season Averages/Conference/National Ranking -- Hitting Percentage (.254/3/38); Kills/s (14.45/1/12); Assists/s (13.71/1/10); Digs/s (15.71/3/108); Aces/s (0.94/11/304); Blocks/s (2.92/4/31); Opponent Hitting Percentage (.194/4/123).
Categorical Leaders -- Kills/s (Adora Anae, 4.31); Assists/s (Bailey Choy, 9.50); Aces/s (Shannon Scully, 0.19); Digs/s (Adora Anae, 3.18); Blocks/s (Tawnee Luafalemana, 1.20).
Colorado (19-8, 9-7 Pac-12)
Season Averages/Conference/National Ranking -- Hitting Percentage (.247/7/53); Kills/s (13.55/7/69); Assists/s (12.65/6/67); Digs/s (15.11/5/153); Aces/s (1.00/9/276); Blocks/s (2.35/7/62); Opponent Hitting Percentage (.200/8/153).
Categorical Leaders -- Kills/s (Alexa Smith, 3.93); Assists/s (Brynna DeLuzio, 10.86); Aces/s (Brynna DeLuzio, 0.23); Digs/s (Gabby Carta-Samuels, 3.62); Blocks/s (Naghede Abu, 1.19).
All-Time Series Records
Utah - ASU Lead, 13-12 (H: 7-5, A: 3-6, N: 3-1)
Colorado - ASU Lead, 9-5 (H: 6-2, A: 2-3, N: 1-0)
Last Time Out_The Sun Devils played host to No. 16 Oregon and Oregon State, dropping the matches by counts of 3-0 and 3-2, respectively.
-@SunDevilVB Takes Oregon State To Five Sets: The Sun Devils fell to the Oregon State (19-9, 9-7 Pac-12) in a tight five set match, 25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 11-15 on Senior Night Saturday in Wells Fargo Arena. In fitting fashion on senior night, Oluoma Okaro put together an outstanding last performance at Wells Fargo leading the Sun Devils with 26 kills. Okaro was on fire, attacking at a .351 clip while adding 16 digs for her 10 double-double of the season. Okaro was assisted offensively by Greire Hughes and Ivana Jeremic who both eclipsed the double-digit kill mark with 17 and 10 respectively. Both Jeremic (13) and Hughes (10) added career-highs in digs, collecting their fifth and first double-doubles of the season, respectively. Hughes obliterated her previous career-high of six digs. Setter Nicole Peterson distributed the offensive attack brilliantly, notching a career-high 56 assists. Peterson's total represents her third 50-assist performance of the season and sixth 40-assist performance. Courtney Leffel matched a career-high with 16 digs. Five Sun Devils totaled at least ten digs, led by a 29-dig outing from senior libero Halle Harker. Harker moved her career digs total to 1,947, good enough for third in school history.
-@SunDevilVB Falls To No. 16 Oregon, 3-0: The Sun Devils fell to the No. 16 Oregon Ducks (16-7, 9-6 Pac-12) in three sets, 17-25, 23-25, 22-25, Thursday evening in Wells Fargo Arena. Freshman Griere Hughes led the Sun Devils with 11 kills on .360 attacking, her 16th double-digit kills match of the season. Junior Carmen Unzue and freshman Megan Beedie added eight kills each. Sophomore Nicole Peterson recorded 28 assists.Senior Halle Harker posted 18 digs on the evening, bringing her career total to 1,918.
Coaching Note_With head coach Sanja Tomasevic not slated to travel due to the recent birth of her daughter Stella, Carlos Moreno will continue to serve as interim head coach.
New Year, Same Oly_In each of Arizona State's four tournaments during the non-conference slate Oluoma Okaro garnered all-tournament team recognition. After collecting MVP honors at the Arizona State-hosted Sun Devil Classic, Aug. 25-26, Okaro went on to net placement on the all-tournament teams of the Gonzaga Invitational (Sep. 1-2) and Lumberjack Classic (Sep. 8-9), and Maverick Classic (Sep. 15-16), respectively. Having paced the Sun Devils on the attack in 19 of the team's 28 matches on the season, Okaro boasts a kills per set average of 4.39, marking the third-best tally in the conference and the 19th-best in the country. Her points per set average of 5.02 accounts for the third-best in the league and 18th-best in the country, while her 10 double-doubles on the campaign sits in a tie for the eighth most in the Pac-12.
Okaro's Career Day_Oluoma Okaro was a bright spot in Arizona State's five-set, 3-2 loss to No. 7 Washington on Sep. 24, recording a career high 30 kills on .414 attacking. The senior's 30 kills tie for the most kills in a single match by a Sun Devil in the rally scoring era (since 2001) with current assistant coach Macey Gardner (9/24/14 at Arizona) and former standout Sarah Reaves (9/20/08 vs. W. Kentucky). Okaro now holds the season best mark for kills in the Pac-12 Conference, surpassing Stanford's Kathryn Plummer's 27 kills from Sept. 1.
Pac-12 Individual Match Highs | Kills
-- 30 (30- 6-58) 5s Okaro, Oluoma (Arizona State) vs Washington (Sep 24, 2017)
-- 28 (28-6-55) 5s Mosser, Jenny (UCLA) at Colorado (Oct. 21, 2017)
-- 27 (27- 5-50) 4s Plummer, Kathryn (Stanford) vs Penn State (Sep 01, 2017)
-- 26 (26- 6-57) 5s Anae, Adora (Utah) at Kentucky (Aug 25, 2017)
-- 25 (25-9-61) 5s Anae, Adora (Utah) at Washington (Oct. 6, 2017)
-- 25 (25-10-68) 5s Smith, Alexa (Colorado) vs Stanford (Sep 24, 2017)
-- 25 (25- 7-58) 5s Smith, Alexa (Colorado) at Colorado State (Sep 16, 2017)
Arizona State Individual Match Records (Rally Scoring Era) | Kills
-- Macey Gardner (9/24/14 at Arizona) 30
-- Sarah Reaves (9/20/08 vs. W. Kentucky) 30
-- Oluoma Okaro (11/24/17 vs. UW) 30
-- Macey Gardner (11/21/14 at WSU) 29
-- Macey Gardner (10/24/13 at Utah) 29
-- Macey Gardner (11/15/14 vs. Oregon) 28
-- Macey Gardner (8/31/12 at UC Irvine) 28
-- Sarah Reaves (9/27/07 vs. Oregon) 28
Hark! The Halle Digs_Sun Devil senior libero Halle Harker's career digs tally of 1,947 marks the third-best in Arizona State program history, and also constitutes the 11th most in the NCAA among active players. The Pac-12 conference's current leader in digs per set at a clip of 5.39, Harker sits 20th in the nation in that category.
ASU Career Digs Leaders
1. Sydney Donahue, 2004-07 – 2385
2. Stephanie Preach, 2010-13 – 2010
3. Halle Harker, 2014-present – 1947
4. Christy Nore, 1985-88 – 1597
5. Jami Coughlin, 1998-2001 – 1528
Harker's Digs By Season
-- 2014: 521
-- 2015: 423
-- 2016: 459
-- 2017: 544 and counting...
Arizona State Single-Season Digs Leaders
1. 742, Sydney Donahue, 2006
2. 640, Sydney Donahue, 2007
3. 628, Sydney Donahue, 2005
4. 619, Stephanie Preach, 2012
5. 610, Stephanie Preach, 2011
6. 601, Mindy Gowell, 1990
7. 556, Christy Nore, 1988
8. 550, Stephanie Preach, 2013
9. 544, Halle Harker, 2017
10. 538,Kelly Plaisted, 1990
11. 521, Halle Harker, 2015
Harker Earns Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Honors_Following a historic outing at UT Arlington's Maverick Classic (Sep. 15-16), Harker garnered Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Sep. 18.The recognition represents the first of Harker's career, while marking the 22nd player of the week nod in Sun Devil program history. Buoying the Sun Devil defensive effort on the weekend, Harker compiled 61 digs (6.10 dps), while adding 18 assists, to help propel the Sun Devils (10-2), to perfect, 3-0 showing at the UT Arlington-hosted Maverick Classic. Most notably her 23-dig outing in Arizona State's 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-19) over Houston Baptist on Sep. 16, moved her into third in Sun Devil program history in career digs.
Dishing On Peterson_Sun Devil sophomore Nicole Peterson has begun to assert herself as a force at the setter position for ASU. The Portland, Ore. native who has logged 14 starts on the season, boasts an assists per set tally of 10.15, good enough for the fifth-best mark in the conference. Peterson, notably logged a career-highs 56 assists against Oregon State on Nov. 11, representing her third 50+-assist performance of the season and sixth 40+-assist performance, respectively.
Taking The Reins_Coach Tomasevic is one of four newcomer head coaches in the Pac-12 conference this season. Tomasevic joins Matt Ulmer (Oregon), Matt McShane (California) and Kevin Hambly (Stanford) as first-year head coaches in the conference.
Been There, Done That_Arizona State's coaching staff - Sanja Tomasevic (head coach), Carlos Moreno (assistant coach), Macey Gardner (assistant coach), Nellie Coleman (director of operations) and Kyle Breitbarth (volunteer assistant coach) - boasts an impressive, collective playing resume. Head coach Sanja Tomasevic, was a two-time All-American and the 2005 Asics and CVU.com National Player of the Year at the University of Washington, and led the Huskies to four NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2005 National Championship, and a pair of Pac-10 Conference titles. In October of 2016, Tomasevic became just the second individual volleyball player to be inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame. The former outside hitter ended her collegiate career as Washington's all-time leader in points (2,159.5), kills (1,795) and service aces (156). She is one of only five players in Huskies history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Assistant Carlos Moreno compiled a prolific playing career as a setter at Brigham University, garnering essentially every national award possible, including AVCA and MPSF Player of the year honors. A three-year starter for the Cougars, Moreno amassed 4,628 career assists, marking the second-most in program in history, while adding 78 career aces (4th-most in program history). Spearheading BYU NCAA Championship runs in 2003 and 2004, Moreno earned a plethora of Player of the Year and MVP honors while also being placed on MSPF's and AVCA's respective first-teams. A two-time All-American and the 2004 AVCA National Player of the Year, Moreno led the Cougars to two NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2004 National Championship, and a pair of MPSF Conference titles. Assistant Macey Gardner is widely considered as of the greatest to ever don the Arizona State maroon and gold, and concluded her collegiate career as Arizona State's all-time kills leader with 1,882 to her credit. Arizona State's second ever three-time All-Pac-12 honoree, she was just the 17th Sun Devil to record 1,000 career digs, and just the 10th to record 1,000 or more kills and digs in her career. Director of operations Nellie Coleman compiled a prolific four-year career at UCLA as a setter, garnering a laundry list of accolades. A three-time AVCA First Team All-American, a three-time All-Pac-10 selectee, and three-time All-Pacific Region member, Coleman concluded her career as one of the best to ever don the UCLA gold and blue. Amassing exceptional career marks in assists (6,000/2nd most in program history) and digs (1,299/3rd most in program history), Coleman, formerly known as Nellie Spicer, anchored the Bruins to four postseason appearances including a Final Four Appearance in 2006. Sun Devil volunteer assistant Kyle Breitbarth competed as a member of the University of Illinois men's club volleyball team from 2010-16. Boasting an impressice collegiate career donning the Illini blue and orange, he was a member of the 2013 NCVF University of Illinois national championship team, while helping propel the squad to a Big Ten championship and program-best 71-11 record in 2016.
Youth Movement_A trio of Sun Devil true freshman including Griere Hughes, Shelbie Dobmeier and Megan Beedie, have shined over the course of the 2017 season. Hughes, an outside hitter from Fishers, Indiana, has notched double-figure kills tallies in 17 of Arizona State's 28 outings on the season. She currently boasts a kills per set average of 3.07. Dobmeier, a setter, from Lakewood, Calif, qualified as the Pac-12 assists leader for a span of six weeks, and sits with season tally of 10.47 to her credit. Beedie, a middle blocker from Cambridge, Ontario, has made five starts while making appearances in 14 matches on the season for the Sun Devils, logging 56 kills and 15 total blocks in that span.
There's No Place Like Home_Arizona State officially rang in the 2017 season playing host to the Sun Devils Classic, Aug. 25-26. The team exited the outing unscathed, garnering straight-set victories over Weber State, North Dakota State and 2016 NCAA tournament team Boise State respectively. Senior Oluoma Okaro paced Arizona State in kills in each of the team's three weekend matches to earn tournament MVP honors, while freshman setter Shelbie Dobmeier notched consecutive double-doubles to cap the tournament and earn selection to the Sun Devil Classic All-Tournament team. The Sun Devils are now 14-1 in home openers, dating back back to 2002.
Pac-12 Slate_Up next, the Sun Devils will round out their Pac-12 slate with trips to Washington State (Wednesday, Nov. 22) and Arizona (Saturday, Nov. 25).
Preseason Sun Devil All-Tournament Selections
--Sun Devil Classic (Aug. 25-26): Oluoma Okaro (MVP), Shelbie Dobmeier
--Gonzaga Invitational (Sep. 1-2): Oluoma Okaro
--Lumberjack Classic (Sep. 8-9): Halle Harker (MVP), Oluoma Okaro, Peyton Grahovac
--Maverick Classic (Sep. 15-16): Griere Hughes, Oluoma Okaro