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Postseason Continues at Stanford for Volleyball

2023 Volleyball Milestones Opens in a new window Volleyball NCAA Tournament Appearances Opens in a new window ASU at NCAA Week 2 Notes Opens in a new window 2023 WVB Bracket Week 2 Opens in a new window
Postseason Continues at Stanford for VolleyballPostseason Continues at Stanford for Volleyball
Julia Jacome
TEMPE – The postseason journey continues for No. 5 seed Sun Devil Volleyball this week as the team will play in the NCAA Regional Semifinals at No. 1 seed Stanford on Thursday night. 

Arizona State (28-6) is in the Sweet 16 for the third time in program history and the first time since 1995. This is the first time that ASU has won two NCAA Tournament matches, winning in dominant fashion by sweeping Georgia in the first round and host team No. 4 seed BYU in the second round. 

The Sun Devils will face the Stanford Cardinal in the regional semifinals on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. PST/9:30 p.m. MST on ESPNU. The winning team will face the victor of No. 2 seed Texas and No. 3 seed Tennessee, which plays before ASU's match. That regional finals match will be on December 9 at 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST on ESPNU. The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals on December 14 for a chance to play in the national championship on 17 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, with the championship match being broadcast on ABC.

ASU is back in the tournament for the first time since 2015, which was the bookend of four-straight postseason appearances for the Sun Devils. This is the 20th tournament appearance in the 50th season of the program. Before this season, the last time ASU won an NCAA Tournament game was in 2014 when the team made it to the second round. 


Sun Devil Outlook
No. 5 Seed Arizona State (28-6, 14-6 Pac-12)
  • Arizona State added to its win total over the weekend, improving to 28 victories on the year. That is the second-highest win total in a season in program history, three away from the top total of 31. This is the 11th 20-win season in ASU history, first since 2014. The 14-0 start to the season was the third-best start to a season in program history. 
  • Arizona State has had three-straight sweeps after winning the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in straight sets. ASU has had 20 sweeps this season, the most in program history by five. There have been three different streaks of three-straight sweeps and one streak of seven in a row, the longest in Sun Devil history.
  • The Sun Devils were well-represented in the 2023 AVCA All-Region awards. Head coach JJ Van Niel is the Pacific South Region Coach of the Year, the first ASU coach to ever win the award. Four were on the all-region team: Claire Jeter, Marta Levinska, Shannon Shields and Mary Shroll. It is the first time any of them have been all-region, and it is the first region honor for ASU since 2015. Additionally, this is the first time there has been more than one all-region player in a season for Arizona State.
  • The Sun Devils finished their final season in the Pac-12 with a 14-6 record, the highest number of conference wins in a single season in program history. The team finished in a tie for third, which is the best conference finish since tying for second in 1993. 
  • After the Pac-12 season, many Sun Devils received honors. First-year head coach JJ Van Niel was the 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Senior opposite Marta Levinska was named to the All-Pac-12 Team, her first time making the team. Additionally, four were on the honorable mention list: Geli Cyr, Claire Jeter, Shannon Shields and Mary Shroll, the first postseason honor for all four of them. 
  • The serve has been superb this season for the Sun Devils. They have 238 aces on the year, which is the fourth-most in a single season at ASU. At the end of the regular season in the national rankings, the team was No. 3 in aces per set and No. 6 in total aces, which were both first in the Pac-12. There are five different people on the team with 30-plus aces and three with 40 or more, led by Levinska with 43.
  • Senior opposite Marta Levinska continues to be a dominant force for the Sun Devils. In all but two matches, she's had double-digit kills (including the last 19 in a row, one off her career long of 20) and she has had 20 or more kills nine times. She also has hit over .300 in 10 of the last 12 matches. In the ASU record book, she is currently sixth for career kills with 1,570 and is fifth for kills in a single season with 554. 
  • Two Sun Devils have been in the NCAA Tournament before this season. Shields qualified with Louisville in her freshman year, and Shroll went with LMU last season.

???????? ???? ?????? ????????: @SunDevilVB @michellachester breaks down her team of Week 15 after Rounds 1 and 2 of the NCAA Tournament. Who is yours? ??#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/S8NEQwf5Eh

— NCAA Women's Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 5, 2023

Opponent Outlook
No. 1 Seed Stanford (28-3, 19-1 Pac-12)
  • The Cardinal is one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and hosted the first and second rounds last weekend. Stanford swept Fresno State in the first round and battled with No.8 seed Houston in the second round, winning in five sets.
  • This is the third meeting this season between the Sun Devils and the Cardinal. Both matches have been sweeps, with Stanford winning the first matchup at home and Arizona State winning in Tempe in the second meeting. 
  • These teams have met in the NCAA postseason twice before, last playing in 1994 in the regional semifinal. Stanford won that meeting in straight sets. In 1981, the Sun Devils and Cardinal played in the first round, which Stanford also won in three sets.

Potential Opponents
No. 2 Seed Texas (24-4, 17-1 Big 12)
  • The Longhorns won an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big 12 in its last season in the league. Texas hosted the first two rounds last week, beating Texas A&M in four sets before sweeping SMU to get to the Sweet 16.
  • Texas leads the all-time series with ASU with a 5-1 record. The two teams last met in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns winning 3-0 in the second round.
No. 3 Seed Tennessee (26-4, 15-3 SEC)
  • Hosting the first two rounds, the Volunteers swept both matches of the NCAA Tournament so far, beating High Point and Western Kentucky.
  • The Sun Devils and Volunteers are tied 2-2 in the all-time series. It has been 20 years since the two teams last met, playing in a non-conference matchup in 2003 that Tennessee won in five sets.