TEMPE – Senior outside hitters Bailey Miller and Tatum Parrott both notched 11 kills in No. 7 Sun Devil Volleyball’s sweep over Loyola Marymount (25-22, 25-21, 25-20) on Sunday afternoon in Desert Financial Arena.
At the conclusion of the Nore-Stahl Classic, three Sun Devils were named to the all-tournament team. Graduate middle blocker Colby Neal was named the MVP, while junior middle blocker Ella Lomigora and redshirt freshman opposite Kiylah Presley earned all-tournament team honors.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (4-1) took down defending WCC champions LMU (0-4) in three close sets. ASU held its opponent to a .146 hitting percentage, the second match in a row holding a team to a clip under .200.
- The Sun Devils reached double-digits in blocks with 10. This is the fourth time in five matches reaching double digits. Colby Neal led all players with seven.
- Senior outside Bailey Miller had 11 kills, her second-straight match in double figures. She also neared a double-double with nine digs, which tied the team high.
- Fellow senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott also notched 11 kills, and it also is her second match in a row with double-digit kills.
- Two additional Sun Devils added to the offense with seven kills apiece. Ella Lomigora had seven on a .500 clip, and junior outside hitter Jillian Neal had seven as well.
- Redshirt freshman opposite Kiylah Presley picked up six kills and three blocks.
Before our match, we honored Sun Devil Volleyball alumni, Christy Nore and Regina Stahl, the namesakes of the Nore-Stahl Classic! 💛🔱#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/xLpakbOCEl
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) September 7, 2025
Set One: ASU 25, LMU 22
The Lions had an early lead in the set, up 7-3 after scoring three in a row. Another 5-1 run for LMU made it a 13-7 lead, but a kill from Miller ended the streak. The Sun Devils scored six in a row with an ace from Miller and two blocks from Neal to tie it up at 14-14. That was followed up by a 6-1 ASU run that saw kills from Parrott and Lomigora, making it a 20-16 lead before LMU’s second timeout. The Lions battled back, getting within one at 23-23 and forcing a Sun Devil timeout. However, a couple of errors from LMU won it for Arizona State, 25-22.
Set Two: ASU 25, LMU 21
The Sun Devils and Lions traded points early, with LMU taking a narrow 6-5 lead. With the two teams tied at 11, two big plays from Colby Neal, a kill and a block, gave the Devils the two-point advantage. Kills from Parrott and Miller stretched out the Devils’ lead to three, leading 21-18. Service errors from both teams kept the set close, and a block from Lomigora and Presley gave the Sun Devils set point and forced the Lions to take a timeout. ASU then took the second set 25-21 on an LMU error.
Set Three: ASU 25, LMU 20
Kills from Colby Neal, Parrott and Miller opened up a 4-0 lead for the Sun Devils, and big plays stretched the lead to 8-2. LMU closed the gap with a 5-2 scoring run, and errors from the Sun Devils allowed the Lions to keep it close. After the media timeout, an ace from Brynn Covell increased the Sun Devils’ lead to four. A kill from Jillian Neal forced the Lions to take a timeout, and a 3-0 scoring run for LMU led to an Arizona State timeout, leading 19-17. The Lions tacked on another point before the Sun Devils were able to sideout. Back-to-back long rallies with kills from Parrott and Presley gave the Sun Devils match point, and a kill from Lomigora sealed the match for ASU.
Up Next
The Sun Devils travel to the Lone Star State and play Texas State and Incarnate Word in San Marcos on Thursday and Friday, then they will face off against No. 2 Texas in Austin on Sunday.
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Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement
“Another fun crowd today. I think we had almost 3,000 so that was really exciting on a Sunday preseason match, so that energy helps our team. I think they’re really fired up by all the kids that were there and all the fans that were there, it was good. Good execution, bad execution at times, I thought we did a nice job of settling in when things weren’t going well. Tatum had a nice night tonight and obviously KP (Kiylah Presley), she is off to get stitches. It’s pretty cool to see her tough it out. Got her face cut and went and they put a couple of butterflies on it and she finished the match, which was kinda cool to see.”
On how the team stepped into new roles
“I mean when Noemie ( Glover) was out we didn’t have much time to prep, so we had kind of a new lineup and new roles. I mean obviously KP (Kiylah Presely) had a nice night as well, she hit .357 and she was even out for a bit. I thought she did a nice job and I think she’s getting more comfortable, everyone else is getting more comfortable having to pick up and add a little more to our offense. Tatum (Parrott) had a really nice night, Bailey (Miller) had 11 kills. They definitely were teeing on our middles so we weren't able to get the middles involved as much. I thought the other people stepped up, I mean Jill (Neal) has never played on the right in her life and she hit almost .300.”
On the team’s defensive performance
“I think we're doing some pretty good things blocking. I think we have some areas where we can still clean some stuff up defensively in the backcourt, and we're kind of finding some stuff out again. We have a lot of new kids and just a new system, and we'll continue to get there, but I think we've been holding teams to pretty low hitting efficiencies, which is one of the goals of our season. Loyola Marymount, we held to below .150 tonight, and I think we did something similar against FGCU and if you can hold teams down, then you have a good shot at winning.”
On Jillian Neal’s success on the court
“She just doesn't get fazed by anything, and we learned that her freshman year. We had a big run her freshman year, my first year here, and she was a true freshman and we realized really early on that she goes back in the service line and the set’s on the line or whatever, she's a great closer, just doesn't remember anything in the past. She just goes in and is really hyper focused and she's always on assignment. Even today and even when we threw her in against FGCU, she wouldn't have prepared for blocking assignments for the right side blocker because she had no idea she would be doing that and then she always knew what she was supposed to do, and that's Jill, she's a true professional.”
Senior Outside Hitter Tatum Parrott
On her performance:
“I went in with the mentality to hit everything, and that helped me gain confidence and being in rhythm with my setter. Having that mentality of just going after it and starting the game off that way, because if you start that way, it opens up things.”
On rallying from slow starts in the first two home matches:
“These were our first home matches and so it can be a little nerve wracking. We want to perform well for our fans and for the community and just be able to play our brand and our game of volleyball. It's still early in the season, we're still trying to figure out what that is and what that looks like. But just sticking with what we work on in practice has been really helpful for us and giving confidence to each other and being able to trust each other on the court as well as off the court and that feeds into how you play.”
Junior Middle Blocker Ella Lomigora
On hitting around LMU’s defense
“I think they were really scrappy. They were working a lot around our block, and trying to take advantage of any holes that we have in our defense and we kept making blocking adjustments to kind of make up for that. I feel like we've just been able to combat that.”
On playing in front of the home crowd and Sun Devil Club
“It's really awesome to be able to play these tough games like at home, surrounded by a bunch of fans that are here and cheering and being really, really loud. So that definitely helps us just get out of our shell and keep playing… It just warms our hearts, just to see all these little kids and the impact that we make on them. They're the loudest people in the stands, so I feel like it's really awesome to have them engaged with us and to interact with us. And it just means a lot more when we have those younger girls looking up to us.”