TEMPE – Behind another strong serving night, No. 8 Sun Devil Volleyball swept Milwaukee (25-10, 25-9, 25-18) to close out the Sun Devil Classic Sunday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
Junior opposite Noemie Glover was named the MVP of the Sun Devil Classic. In her return to the court after missing the last two weeks, she had a team-best 30 kills over the weekend, adding 11 blocks as well. Seniors Bailey Miller and Sydney Henry were named to the Sun Devil Classic All-Tournament Team.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (9-2) kept up the strong serving in the win over Milwaukee (0-13), earning 10 aces for the second match in a row.
- The block was strong in the win with the Sun Devils notching 10. This is the fifth match this season with double-digit blocks.
- The win was also the sixth sweep of the season.
- Arizona State held Milwaukee to a -.069 hitting percentage, the lowest opponent clip of the season. This was the third match in a row holding opponents to a sub-.200 hitting percentage, eighth this season. The last time ASU held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage was in 2023 against Northern Arizona (-.011).
- Graduate middle blocker Colby Neal led the team in blocks with six and was second in kills with seven. She also had two aces.
- Leading all players in kills was senior Bailey Miller with eight kills. She also had nine digs.
- Sophomore libero Faith Frame led ASU in digs with 11. This was her seventh match this season in double figures.
- The second set score of 25-9 is the largest margin of victory for ASU in a set this season.
- Freshman Ceci Vance notched her first kill of her career in the second set.
- Wrapping up non-conference play, head coach JJ Van Niel improved to 33-3 in non-conference matches in his three seasons in Tempe. The three losses are to ranked teams.
What a way to wrap up the weekend! 😎😈#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/F5LRIfEfsh
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) September 21, 2025
Set one: ASU 25, Milwaukee 10
ASU started the first set off strong with a 5-2 lead after two kills from Noemie Glover got the offense going. The Panthers were unable to find their rhythm after the Sun Devils went on a three-point run, leading 9-4. Miller’s attack brought two strong kills, forcing Milwaukee to call its first timeout with ASU leading 14-8. However, the Panthers were unable to slow down the Sun Devils who went on a five-point run to lead 19-8 with kills from Ella Lomigora, Glover and an ace from Miller. Three more kills in a row from Colby Neal and Kiylah Presley won the first set for ASU, 25-10
Set two: ASU 25, Milwaukee 9
The Sun Devils began set two with a strong four-point lead, including back-to-back kills from Miller and Lomigora. Sitting at 6-1, the Panthers called their first timeout but struggled to make it past Sun Devil blockers, bringing the score to 10-3. Both teams rallied but with a strong attack by Colby Neal and ace from Sydney Henry, the Sun Devils capitalized on their lead, 13-4. The Panthers called their second timeout to regroup, but the Sun Devils only came back stronger. A stellar block by sisters Jillian Neal and Colby Neal as well as two aces for Henry pushed ASU along on its seven-point run to lead 21-4. Milwaukee attempted to rally back by scoring three in a row, but an error from the Panthers and ace from Colby Neal pushed the Sun Devils to win their second set of the match, 25-9.
Set three: ASU 25, Milwaukee 18
Milwaukee came out with a different energy to begin the third set. The Milwaukee defense continued with confidence with four blocks in a row and its biggest lead yet, 8-5. An attack error and misserve from the Sun Devils allowed the Panthers to further their lead to 11-7. Capitalizing on an ace from Ella Lewis and back-to-back kills by Miller, the Sun Devils tied things back up 11-11, forcing the Panthers to call a timeout. Multiple attack errors from ASU allowed Milwaukee to take the lead 14-11. After a strong block, ace from Brynn Covell and a kill from Colby Neal, ASU took the lead back 16-14. Another attack from Colby Neal and a missed serve from Milwaukee pushed ASU’s lead to 18-15 with another Milwaukee timeout being called. The Sun Devils found their tempo once again with three strong kills from Presley, Lomigora and Jillian Neal, pushing the lead to 22-17. A kill from Miller and an ace from Piper Rama completed the sweep for the Sun Devils, 25-18.
Up next
The Sun Devils start Big 12 play next week on the road. Arizona State will open up at No. 17 Kansas on September 26 live on ESPNU before playing at Kansas State on September 28 on ESPN+.
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Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement:
“Fun, fun night. Obviously it was camper night, so it's always fun to see the kids out there. Thought we came out playing pretty well, a couple of things we still got to clean up, but we got a chance to get a lot of people in, get some experience, which is always good. And it's nice that it was a quick match, and we can get ready to go for next weekend.”
On Ella Lewis and Faith Frame playing libero:
“Faith's been really steady back there, for us. She won the jersey during our double days and hasn't really looked back. She provides a nice calmness back there, she’s a good communicator. Ella's been great with her serve. She does it every day in practice, and so she has one of the best serves on the team. So that's a way to get her serving for us without using a serving sub.”
On playing clean and limiting attack errors:
“It's really important to play clean in volleyball. Volleyball is kind of a weird sport because you can earn points, but you can give up points. I think because we were serving tough, we were blocking a lot of balls. Even if we didn't get a stuff block, we still were sending it back and getting quality touches. It forces the opponent to kind of push and try to hit shots they're not normally comfortable with, so it's nice for our team to see that, and hopefully we can get better. We didn't play as clean offensively in the second and third set, but we’ve got to play clean volleyball, that's for sure.”
Graduate Middle Blocker Colby Neal
On the team’s blocking and defense
“I think we're a super physical team with blocking, especially blocking next to Noemie. She's so solid and Jillian too is a huge block, so it's really fun when I get to be up there with both of them, and we get to just take up a ton of space. I feel really confident making moves outside of my body. It also helps all of us blockers to know that Faith is back there because even if I give her a little too much, she gets it up. I think we both give each other a lot of confidence, which is good.”
On getting to play with her sister, Jillian
“It means everything. When I went into the portal, I had it in the back of my mind. I was like, I'm gonna keep my options open, but in reality, I knew what I wanted to do, because she and I have been really close since we were kids, and my brother too, but there's just nothing like being with your sister. So she obviously had a lot of great things to say about the team, the girls, the coaches, just everything, and that helped as well. I just felt really confident in my decision to come here and it's been so fun because we live together, so we're spending so much time with one another, which is really cool since we haven't been able to do that since before I moved out to go to college. So it's been the best experience ever.”
Sophomore Libero Faith Frame
On playing behind this defense:
“It’s been really fun this year playing defense behind this block. You know exactly where they're going to be so it’s easy to read behind them and that makes it easier for me to dig balls. I just think that they’re super disciplined up there and it helps a lot in defense.”
On finding their momentum:
“That’s a huge momentum too when you’re winning those points it’s like okay we really got this. After being tired you all come in together and it’s like, that was a long rally but keep fighting, keep winning those big points and I think that’s just a big momentum boost.”