TEMPE – In front of a record-breaking crowd, No. 8 Sun Devil Volleyball beat Arizona in four sets (25-11, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22) on Thursday night at Desert Financial Arena.
Notable stats
- Arizona State (21-3, 12-1 Big 12) has now won six in a row against Arizona (14-10, 8-6 Big 12), with head coach JJ Van Niel never having lost to the Wildcats as a head coach.
- Attendance was 7,703, which is the most in the ASU record book since 2013. The all-time record outlier is 8,516 against Stanford in 1986. Otherwise, consistent attendance records are not available until 2013.
- The Sun Devils had a season-high 17 blocks tonight, which was the 15th match with double-digit blocks this season. The Sun Devils have had double-digit blocks in 10 of the 13 Big 12 matches.
- The defense held Arizona to a .092 hitting percentage, compared to ASU’s .256. This is the seventh time this season Arizona State has held its opponent to a sub-.100 clip.
- Graduate middle blocker Colby Neal neared a double-double with 10 kills and nine blocks in the win, including solo block on match point. She reached double-digit kills for the second time this season, fourth time in her career. Additionally, this was her fourth match with nine or more blocks.
- Leading the Sun Devils in kills was junior opposite Noemie Glover with 13, which was her 13th match in a row with double-digit kills. She also had four blocks.
- Notching her ninth double-double of the year, senior outside hitter Bailey Miller had 10 kills and 12 digs in the win. This was her ninth match in a row with double-digit kills and 50th in her career.
- Redshirt freshman opposite Kiylah Presley set a career high in blocks with six. She also had seven kills.
- Junior middle blocker Ella Lomigora had six blocks on the night, as well as four kills on five attempts.
- Setters Sydney Henry and Brynn Covell split duties, with Henry notching 24 assists and Covell earning 13.
RECORD ATTENDANCE 🤯
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 14, 2025
7️⃣,7️⃣0️⃣3️⃣ of you have PACKED the house tonight ‼️😈#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/KY40U99Thn
Set one: ASU 25, Arizona 11
The Sun Devils got off to a fast start, leading the first set 7-2 with Miller notching two kills. Arizona closed the gap to 9-6 before Arizona State responded with a 3-0 run, causing Arizona to call its first timeout of the night with the score at 12-6. The Wildcats tried to close the gap by scoring a point out of the timeout, but the Sun Devils went on a 4-0 run and forced a second Arizona timeout with the score at 16-7. ASU held on to the lead for the rest of the set, with Colby Neal racking up three kills and the team recording six blocks throughout the set. ASU took the set comfortably, 25-11.
Set two: Arizona 25, ASU 20
The Sun Devils and Wildcats were in a tight battle to begin the set. ASU went on a 3-0 scoring run that was finished off by an ace from Jillian Neal. Arizona later earned four-straight points before ASU took its first timeout after with the Sun Devils being down 9-8. Both teams traded 3-0 scoring runs to bring the game to a 15-15 tie before Arizona went on another 3-0 run to go up 18-15. A serving error from the Wildcats was able to end their scoring run as the Sun Devils continued to fight back, but the Wildcats held on to win the second set, 25-20.
Set three: ASU 25, Arizona 18
An early run of three put the Sun Devils up early before the Wildcats closed the gap with the set tied at 6-6. As both teams continued to go back and forth with the score still tied at 9-9 as three in a row by the Sun Devils that was topped off by a kill from Glover helped them maintain a 15-11 lead. Following a media timeout, the Wildcats continued to keep the set close, but a kill from Miller helped the Sun Devils maintain their four-point lead at 20-16 as Arizona took a timeout. A Tatum Parrott kill forced Arizona to take another timeout with ASU leading, 23-18. A kill from Glover highlighted ASU taking the third set, 25-18.
Set four: ASU 25, Arizona 22
ASU began the set by scoring two in a row before Arizona came back with a 3-0 scoring run that was stopped due to an attack error. The Sun Devils then scored four straight, which included another kill from Colby Neal to give them a 9-6 advantage. The Wildcats kept on fighting and eventually took a 15-14 lead. Following a media timeout, the set continued to stay close before an Arizona 3-0 run forced an ASU timeout, with the Sun Devils trailing 21-17. Glover’s kill brought her team within one point as Arizona took a timeout, with ASU still trailing 21-20. Henry’s set to the deep corner for the kill helped tie things up at 21-21 before Miller’s ace gave the Sun Devils a 23-22 lead, forcing Arizona’s second timeout. Coming out of the break, the Sun Devils finished things off by taking the set, 25-22, after a solo block from Colby Neal. Arizona State finished the set on an 8-1 run after being down 21-17 to secure the win.
6 IN A ROW AGAINST THE 😿❗️#ForksUp pic.twitter.com/DfeLlqjZOr
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 14, 2025
Up next
Arizona State will head to Boulder to take on No. 22 Colorado on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. MST and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement:
“I'm going to channel some inner Kenny (Dillingham) right now. 7,700 people, that was so sick. I'm so grateful for the fans. It was such a great environment. That was unbelievable. Our team played well, we got out of some scraps and found a way to win ugly in a couple of sets. Really proud of those kids, especially because we were down with our backs against the wall in that last set. I think we were down 21-18 and came back, and we did some really good things. We're on task with assignments, served tough, got them in trouble and pulled it out like we've been doing all year. It's really fun.”
On being proud of being part of an historical night:
“I go back to the first press conference we had, and I talked about wanting to build something where we got fans in there. It’s really, really special to have that many people come out to support us, and I hope they keep coming. It's absolutely phenomenal and loud. I love DFA (Desert Financial Arena) because it's so loud in there. I think because it's cement and it's an old building, but everyone's screaming and there’s just all the support for our players. There was so much gold in there. It’s really special.”
On how the resilience of the team was a factor in tonight’s game:
“It looked like we were heading to a fifth set. I was already thinking about matchups for the fifth set when we were down 21-17. I think we had just called a timeout and got the sideout, but our team has been [resilient] all year. They do a great job of not worrying about the score and just thinking, ‘Hey, we have to get some real points here.’ We went back, served tough, and executed, which was really cool to see.”
On if he considers the team’s block to be a strength of the lineup:
“Yeah, for sure. We're a physical team. It's the most physical team I've had since I've been here, maybe ever. When Noemie (Glover) and Colby (Neal) are in the front row, it's a tough block to deal with. They're both significantly outperforming anything they've ever done from a blocking standpoint. It's pretty fun. It's been better than expected for sure. Colby worked really hard to improve her blocking and Noemie has done some really good things there too.”
Senior Setter Sydney Henry
On running a talented offense:
“That's definitely the best part of my job. I love when blockers don't know what's coming next, and I love that I have all these options to make it that way. So it's all a part of our scheme too. Like once we get someone going early, like Colby, then they have to respect her. Then that opens up Noemie (Glover). Then they have to step back to her and then we can go to Bailey (Miller), so it gives us a lot of options and it's the most fun part of my job."
On learning from JJ Van Niel:
“JJ is the setter coach. I’ve been playing volleyball for as long as I can remember, and I’ve learned more in the year that I’ve been here than I ever have, and I think it’s cool to experience something where it pushes you beyond what you think you know. I thought I knew a lot about volleyball until I got here, and I was wrong. I’ve learned so much, so I just think it’s really great that we have someone who is so smart and so into the analytics. He sets high standards for himself in his personal life and in his work life, and he sticks with them every day, and then that pushes us to stick to high standards as well, so the standards he sets for himself translate to us too.”
Graduate Middle Blocker Colby Neal
On what was talked about during the last timeout in the fourth set:
“I think a lot of it, especially for me, was just slowing down, taking a moment to just breathe. We had a lot of fast rallies too, so calming down and looking around and really understanding who's to my right and to my left and behind me, that helps me feel super confident. Our assistant, Shaughn (McDonald) always tells us that we're built to do hard things. I think it was a big thing for our mindset and that's what helped us come back.”
On what she did in the offseason to improve her blocking abilities:
“I had to change all of my footwork, it was horrible. You should have seen me on my first day in the gym, I looked like a baby deer on ice. I was just so lost, our tempo was so fast, but I really focused on that. At first, I didn't care if I got the touch or not. It was just about my footwork needing to be there and being able to put myself in the right spot, being able to close. That's what's huge, it definitely helps having such amazing pin blockers on the side of me with Noemie (Glover) and Bailey (Miller). I wouldn't want to hit against the two of us and I'm lucky to have that. It's definitely been a lot of just minute things, for where it can work, but also I feel like JJ does a really good job of telling us to have the mindset of touching every ball. I don't want to let a ball get past me. I want to take up as much of the court as possible, and I think that's something that helps us be successful.”