TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State beach volleyball will start the 2019 season this Saturday, playing No. 15 Loyola Marymount, No. 16 Grand Canyon and New Mexico, all on GCU's campus.
The Sun Devils are looking to start the season on the right foot with the potential for two top-20 wins. Arizona State is the third team out of the top 20 in the AVCA preseason rankings.
In the Maroon and Gold scrimmage last Friday, the team showed a lot of fight from top to bottom. Maroon earned a close 3-2 win over the Gold team with two of the matches going to three sets.
In 2018, the Sun Devils compiled an 11-20 record. The season was highlighted by a five-match win streak that included a win over Pac-12 foe Washington, the first in program history over the Huskies. The team returns 12 players from last year's roster, the majority bringing back significant playing time.
Opponents Outlook
No. 15 Loyola Marymount | 8:30 a.m. MST
The Sun Devils are looking to start the season on the right foot with the potential for two top-20 wins. Arizona State is the third team out of the top 20 in the AVCA preseason rankings.
In the Maroon and Gold scrimmage last Friday, the team showed a lot of fight from top to bottom. Maroon earned a close 3-2 win over the Gold team with two of the matches going to three sets.
In 2018, the Sun Devils compiled an 11-20 record. The season was highlighted by a five-match win streak that included a win over Pac-12 foe Washington, the first in program history over the Huskies. The team returns 12 players from last year's roster, the majority bringing back significant playing time.
Opponents Outlook
No. 15 Loyola Marymount | 8:30 a.m. MST
- LMU will start their season on February 22 against GCU before playing two matches on Saturday against ASU and New Mexico.
- Back in 2018, the Lions compiled a 22-14 record. They had two wins over teams in the top 20.
- In the all-time series, ASU and LMU are tied 1-1 with the Lions taking the last match in 2017.
- GCU will begin the season on February 22, playing New Mexico and Loyola Marymount the night before playing ASU.
- Last season, the Lopes went 13-16. They had two wins over ranked opponents: LMU and Georgia State.
- This is the first meeting between Arizona State and Grand Canyon.
- A match against host-team GCU on February 22 will kick off the season for New Mexico before two matches on Saturday.
- The Lobos went 9-14 in 2018.
- ASU leads New Mexico in the all-time series history, 5-2. The teams last met in 2018 when the Sun Devils won 4-1.