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Death Volley Invitational on deck for #10 Sand Devils

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Olivia McElroy and Kendall Whitmarsh ready for the serve.Olivia McElroy and Kendall Whitmarsh ready for the serve.
Sun Devil Athletics
by Brooklyn Cohen

TEMPE – The road trip continues for No. 10 Sun Devil Beach Volleyball as the team heads to Louisiana for a second-straight weekend of ranked matchups, this time at the Death Volley Invitational on March 20-21, hosted by LSU. 

The Sun Devils will square off against four 2025 NCAA Tournament teams this weekend. On Friday, they take on Georgia State at 11:30 a.m. EDT/8:30 a.m. MST and No. 4 Texas at 5:45 p.m. EDT/2:45 p.m. MST. On Saturday, ASU faces No. 6 Florida State at 12:15 p.m. EDT/9:15 a.m. MST and the host team, No. 12 LSU, at 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. MST.

How to follow
All matches will be live on the B1G+ Network, which does require a subscription. There will be no live scoring. Fans can follow along on Instagram (@sundevilbeachVB) and X (@SunDevilBeachVB ) for updates on the duals.

Sun Devil outlook
No. 10 Arizona State (11-3)

  • After starting off the season 10-0, the Sand Devils had their first big test with a full weekend against ranked opponents, going 1-3. Arizona State fell to No. 1 UCLA, No. 10 Cal and No. 9 LMU before taking down No. 13 Hawai’i. 
  • The Sand Devils are now 6-3 against ranked opponents this season, and have 24 ranked wins under head coach Kristen Glattfelder. Arizona State is undefeated against unranked teams under Glattfelder.
  • The duo of senior McKenna Flaherty and junior Kristin Gilmour went 3-1 over the weekend, with the only loss coming against the pair from No. 1 UCLA. As a pair, they improved to 12-1, the best pairs record on the team. Individually, Flaherty is now 13-1, which is the most individual wins by a Sand Devil. 
  • Senior Arden Besecker and sophomore Zoë Taylor were also undefeated on Saturday, moving them to 12-2 on the year after going 2-2 over the weekend. 
  • Multiple Sun Devils are nearing 50 career wins. Gilmour is now one win away, Besecker is two off the mark, and junior Olivia McElroy is four wins away.
  • ASU has eight sweeps this season, which is one away from the team record of nine. The 2025 and 2019 teams both had nine 5-0 sweeps in a season.

Opponent outlook
Georgia State (8-8)

  • The Panthers went 3-0 last week during the GSU Day of Duals, sweeping Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech. 
  • After starting off the season ranked, Georgia State has fallen to six other ranked teams, as well as two unranked teams. 
  • The Sun Devils are 3-2 against the Panthers all-time, with the most recent matchup happening earlier this season at the Cactus Classic. Arizona State swept that dual. 

No. 4 Texas (10-4)

  • The Longhorns went 3-1 over the weekend at the East Meets West Invitational, taking down No. 13 Hawai’i, No. 9 LMU and No. 10 California. The lone loss came against No. 1 UCLA. 
  • Texas has nine ranked wins on the season. 
  • Going 28-10 in 2025, the Longhorns were 3-1 in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA). They made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to TCU. 
  • Arizona State is 1-1 against Texas all-time, with a 4-1 loss against the Longhorns last season and a 3-2 win in 2024. 

No. 6 Florida State (15-1)

  • The Seminoles were undefeated at the Florida Atlantic Beach Invitational last weekend, going 4-0 while picking up wins over No. 13 FAU, No. 3 USC and No. 6 TCU. 
  • Florida State is 7-1 against ranked teams this season, with their only loss coming against No. 7 TCU.
  • In 2025, the Seminoles were 26-13, with a 4-1 mark in CCSA. FSU made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, taking down Long Beach State before losing to UCLA. 
  • The Sand Devils are 1-2 against Florida State all-time, with the most recent meeting resulting in a 3-2 Sun Devil victory in 2025. 

No. 12 LSU (11-7)

  • The Tigers saw similar results as the Sun Devils at the East Meets West Invitational, falling to No. 10 Cal, No. 1 UCLA and No. 9 LMU and getting the lone win against No. 13 Hawai’i. 
  • LSU is 3-7 against ranked opponents this season.
  • With a 24-13 mark in 2025, earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament, losing to Cal Poly in the first round. 
  • The Sand Devils are 0-3 against the Tigers all-time, with a 3-2 loss in the most recent matchup last season. 

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