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Mountain Schools Await #17 Volleyball

ASU at Utah Colo Notes Opens in a new window 2023 Volleyball Milestones Opens in a new window
Mountain Schools Await #17 VolleyballMountain Schools Await #17 Volleyball
Thomas Fernandez
TEMPE – Fresh off of a sweep at then-No. 5 Oregon, No. 17 Sun Devil Volleyball is on the road for a second-straight week, traveling to Utah on Friday before heading to Colorado on Sunday. 

How to Follow
Friday's match at Utah will be at 6 p.m. MDT (5 p.m. MST) in the Huntsman Center. The match at Colorado on Sunday begins at noon MDT (11 a.m. MST) in the CU Events Center. Both matchups will be on the Pac-12 Network, with live scoring available as well. As always, updates can be found on social media: @SunDevilVB on X and @sundevilvolleyball on Instagram. 

Sun Devil Outlook
No. 17 Arizona State (18-2, 6-2 Pac-12)
  • The Sun Devils split their matches last weekend, falling in five at Oregon State before earning a huge sweep over then-No. 5 Oregon in Eugene. That was the first top-five win for the program since 2013, just the fifth ever. It is the only true road sweep over a top-five team in ASU history.
  • The ranked win boosted Arizona State in the AVCA Coaches Poll, moving up two spots to No. 17, the highest ASU has been since 2015. JJ Van Niel is just the second first-year head coach at ASU to have a ranked team, the other being Debbie Brown in 1983. Her team was ranked for 11 weeks and got as high as No. 13.
  • The win over Oregon was the 12th sweep of the season and the first sweep over the Ducks since 2018, also on the road. The team is already tied for the fourth-highest number of sweeps in a season in program history, knotted with 1995. The most in a single season at ASU is 15. 
  • Senior opposite Marta Levinska has had a fantastic senior year so far. She leads the team in kills and is ranked in the top 25 in the nation for total kills (296), kills per set (4.23), total points (350) and points per set (5.00). She is now 48 kills away from ninth place in the record book for career kills. She cracked the top 10 over the weekend, now tied for 10th with Jami Coughlin (1998-01) Earlier this season, she was the back-to-back Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, the first time that has happened to a Sun Devil.
  • Graduate setter Shannon Shields had a strong weekend, notching double-doubles in both matches. She has had five double-doubles this season, 15 in her career. She had 49 assists against Oregon State, her 11th time in her career with 40-plus assists, seventh this season. In the nation, she is top 40 in assists and assists per set.
  • Arizona State moved back into first in the Pac-12 in aces, now 15th in the country with 146. Levinska and Mary Shroll both lead the team in aces with 29 each, which is tied for second in the Pac-12.
  • Arizona State is 18-2 on the year. The current win total of 18 is tied for the fifth-most wins this century for the Sun Devils. A 20-win total would put this team in a tie for seventh-most all-time at Arizona State. The 14-0 start to the season was the third-best start to a season in program history. 
  • This team is experienced, with Levinska and Shields reaching 100 or more matches played over the weekend. Three others have played in 90-plus matches: Roberta Rabelo, Shroll and Claire Jeter. 

Opponent Outlook
Utah (8-10, 3-5 Pac-12)
  • The Utes are currently on a three-match losing streak after falling at Washington and Washington State over the weekend. Despite a losing record, they are 6-2 at home.
  • This season will not be the last ASU sees Utah in conference play as the Utes will be joining the Big 12 next season along with Arizona State.
  • Last season, ASU and Utah played just once, with the Sun Devils winning 3-1 in Tempe. The last time Arizona State was in the Huntsman Center in 2021, the team won in four sets.
  • Van Niel was a former assistant at Utah under head coach Beth Launiere. He was first an assistant coach before being an associate head coach in 2017.
Colorado (10-9, 2-6 Pac-12)
  • The Buffs lost both matches over the weekend at Washington and Washington State. Their two conference wins have come over Oregon State and Utah.
  • Last season, the Buffs went to the NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 20-11 record (12-8 Pac-12). 
  • In 2022, ASU and Colorado played just once in Boulder, the Buffs coming away victorious in that one. The Sun Devils are 1-4 in the last five matches in the CU Events Center.