Home Sweet Home: Volleyball Finally Returns to Tempe This Weekend

TEMPE – After four weeks on the road to start the season, Sun Devil Volleyball is finally home, hosting Arizona on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST in the home opener before taking on Washington on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. Both matches will be in Mullett Arena, the first volleyball matches to be held there, and both will be on the Pac-12 Network.

Fan Information
The home schedule will begin with the rivalry match against the Wildcats on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST, which is approaching a sellout. It will be the first game in any sport in the Territorial Cup Series, going for a half point. Fans are encouraged to wear gold. Limited tickets remain, fans can buy their tickets here.

Sunday's match at 1 p.m. MST against the Huskies will be the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the program, with many notable alumni in attendance to celebrate the history. 

How to Follow
The two matches will be live on the Pac-12 Network. Live scoring will also be available. For more updates, follow along on Twitter (@SunDevilVB) and on Instagram (@sundevilvolleyball).

Sun Devil Outlook
Arizona State (12-0, 0-0 Pac-12)

• The Sun Devils' final Pac-12 slate begins this week with Arizona and Washington. It is the first of two matchups against the Wildcats, but this will be the only meeting with the Huskies, and last as conference foes.
• This weekend will be two of the five matches to be held in Mullett Arena this season. The UCLA, Stanford and Colorado matches will also take place there. The remaining five home matches will be in Desert Financial Arena.
• Senior opposite Marta Levinska was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, her first offensive player of the week nod. This was also the first weekly award for Arizona State since 2021. Levinska was named the MVP of the Beale Street Classic after helping the Sun Devils sweep all three matches, hitting a blistering .527 over the weekend and notching double-digit kills in each match. She only had three attack errors all weekend. She hit a career-high .606 in the sweep over Southern Miss and had a season-high 21 kills in that win. Her 155 kills on the year leads the team.
• Graduate libero reached the 1,000 career digs milestone over the weekend. She was named to the all-tournament team after reaching double-digit digs in all three matches. On the team, she leads the defense with 140 digs, the only Sun Devil in triple digits so far.
• The serving game has been a strong point for Arizona State, as the team is first in the nation in aces per set (2.56). ASU had 13 aces against Little Rock and 14 against Southern Miss, which are the third and fifth highest totals in program history, respectively. 
• Three Sun Devils already have 20 or more aces: Levinska (24), Shroll (20) and senior setter Shannon Shields (20). Levinska is first in the conference for aces and aces per set (.62), which is also 11th in the NCAA. She also is first in the conference in total aces. Shields padded her ace total over the weekend where she had 12 in nine sets, including a career-high six against Little Rock which was tied for the fourth-best individual mark in the rally-scoring era at ASU. For all three, they already have more aces than they had all of last season. 
• All three teams this weekend have first-year head coaches. Arizona is led by Charita Stubbs while Washington's new head coach is Leslie Gabriel.

Opponent Outlook
Arizona (5-6, 0-0 Pac-12)

• The Wildcats went 2-1 at their home tournament last weekend. The team had a big in-state win earlier this season in a 3-2 win at GCU.
• In 2022, Arizona went 16-15, including a 6-14 mark in conference play. At the end of the year, legendary head coach Dave Rubio retired after 31 seasons. New head coach Charita Stubbs spent 19 years on Rubio's staff.
• Last season, the rivals split the two matches, with each team winning on the road. Arizona State spoiled Arizona's home opener by winning in four sets, while the Cats spoiled the Sun Devils' senior day in a reverse sweep. ASU barely trails Arizona in the all-time series 54-56. The Sun Devils are looking for their first home rivalry win since the 2020-21 spring season.

Washington (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12)

• Last weekend, the Huskies played three matches in San Luis Obispo, going 2-1 with wins over Cal Poly and Saint Mary's. 
• Like ASU and Arizona, Washington also has a new head coach in Leslie Gabriel, who has spent two decades as a Husky, both as a player and a coach. Last season, she helped the team go 20-11 and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
• In the 2022 season, the Sun Devils' beat the Huskies 3-2 in Seattle before UW came to Tempe and got the win. ASU's last home win over Washington was in 2018 when the Sun Devils got the sweep.