Lumberjack Classic Awaits Undefeated Sun Devil Volleyball

TEMPE – Sun Devil Volleyball looks to extend the undefeated start to the season at the Lumberjack Classic this weekend at Northern Arizona, playing September 7-9 against NAU, Boise State and Stephen F. Austin.

How to Follow
ASU will face the home team Northern Arizona on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MST and will be live on ESPN+. Arizona State will play Boise State on Friday at 5 p.m. MST and will end the weekend against SFA on Saturday at 11 a.m. MST. The latter two matches will not have a live stream. All three will have live stats.

Sun Devil Outlook
Arizona State (6-0, 0-0)

• The perfect start continued over the weekend for the Sun Devils, going 3-0 at the Borderland Invitational. This is the best start to the season ASU has seen since 2015 when that team started 15-0. This is also the only time a new head coach at Arizona State has started 6-0, with the previous best being 4-0.
• Senior opposite Marta Levinska has had a strong start to 2023. She leads the team in kills with 83 and is currently on a streak of 18-straight matches with double-digit kills, dating back to last season. Additionally, she has moved up the ASU record book to 15th place for career kills with 1,099. She is 26 kills away from Erica Wilson (2009-12) in 14th place. 
• Graduate setter Shannon Shields had 40-plus assists in each of the last three matches, including a career-high 52 against San Francisco. She surpassed 1,500 career assists over the weekend.
• Junior outside hitter Cyr has also had a stand-out start to the season, with 78 kills so far, just five off of Levinska. She has had 16 kills in two different matches, a career high, and has had double-digit kills in all but one match so far. Hitting .343 on the year so far, she has hit above .300 in all but one match, and has hit over .400 twice.
• All three pin hitters hit double figures in kills in each match over the weekend. Senior Roberta Rabelo had the best weekend of her career, earning a career-high 16 kills in the win against San Francisco. She also hit a personal best .542 in the win over UTEP.
• The defense has been led by graduate libero Mary Shroll. She has 62 digs on the year, and against San Francisco she had a season-high 18 digs. She's up to 943 career digs, closing in on that 1,000 dig milestone.

Opponent Outlook
Northern Arizona (2-4)

• The host team has struggled to start the season. The Lumberjacks won two of their first three matches but then lost the last three. 
• NAU is looking to improve this season after going 5-18 in 2022. There are six returners who were key contributors to that team, as well as eight newcomers.
• ASU has dominated the series against NAU, leading 43-5. The Sun Devils won the last five in a row, most recently in 2021 in a 3-1 win.

Boise State (2-2)

• The Broncos started 2-0 but dropped two over the weekend to Oklahoma and Oregon State.
• Last season, Boise State went 15-14, 7-11 in the Mountain West Conference, which was its ninth-consecutive winning season. Despite not making the tournament, the team did end the year on a win. 
• ASU leads 2-1 in the all-time series against Boise State. The teams last met in 2017 with the Sun Devils winning in straight sets.

Stephen F. Austin (5-1)

• The 'Jacks have had a strong start to the season and have won four in a row. They hosted a tournament last weekend, winning all three matches.
• In 2022, SFA went 26-5. After winning the WAC tournament championship, the team got the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. SFA lost to Baylor in the first round.
• It has been a long time since the Sun Devils and 'Jacks met. ASU swept SFA back in 2003. Arizona State is 3-0 against Stephen F. Austin.