A Solid (Sun) Devil Decade

A lot has happened in Sun Devil Athletics in the past decade. A lot more is about to happen in the next one in the changing world of college athletics, and SDA is ready.

Some of the past decade is easy to remember, like the recently opened Mullett Arena, a complete overhaul of Sun Devil Stadium which is now Mountain America Stadium, the multiple triathlon national titles and wrestling's return to national stage led by an alum who was an Olympian. Some of it might have been forgotten due, part of it COVID cancelations happening in a season where some of ASU's top sports like men's basketball and women's basketball were having banner seasons, and some like baseball were about to. Some highlights and goals reached gets overlooked because it is hard to keep track of every measure of success off the playing field, where the academics have hit an all-time high. Sun Devils are competing in new facilities that are among the best in the nation, NCAA championships are not only being hosted, they are being hosted at the highest levels of efficiency. Four sports have been added, with all of them having strong levels of success. The past decade has been great in a lot of ways.

Let's take a look at some of the ways...


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MORE AND MORE SUN DEVILS
Sun Devil Athletics added men's ice hockey, women's triathlon, women's lacrosse and reinstated a men's tennis program that disbanded in 2008, as the department has added 100 student-athletes to its department over the course of the past three athletic seasons. It supported 652 Sun Devils across its 26 sports in the 2022-23 athletic season, and supported as many as 685 in 2019-20 and 679 in 2020-21. It supported 568 in 2014-15.

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2017 NCAA WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONS
The Arizona State women's golf team, led by head coach and ASU alumni Missy Fare-Kaye, topped Northwestern at the 2017 NCAA Championship to earn its eighth team title, the most of any women's golf program in NCAA history (. It also marked the 12th time in NCAA history an individual medalist was part of the NCAA title team, as senior Monica Vaughn earned the individual championship.

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WELCOME MOUNTAIN AMERICA
Arizona State University and Sun Devil Athletics announced on Aug. 2, 2023, a multi-year naming rights partnership with Mountain America Credit Union to form one of the most dynamic naming rights deals in college athletics. The 15-year partnership with Sun Devil Athletics – the most important deal in athletics department history - includes ASU's football stadium, which will now be called Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. 
 
"The ability to compete at a high level during a transformational time in college athletics requires finding incredible partners who want to invest in our 26 sports, our 650 student-athletes and our 300-plus staff and coaches," said Ray Anderson, Sun Devil Vice President for University Athletics. "An athletic department of nearly 1,000 team members requires incredible amounts of technology, nutrition, mental health resources, travel and other vital parts to win championships. We enthusiastically thank and welcome Mountain America Credit Union and look forward to integrating them into so many wonderful memories that will be created at Mountain America Stadium for years to come."
 

ASU and Sun Devil Athletics, in partnership with @MountainAmerica & @oakviewgroup, are excited to announce the naming of Mountain America Stadium, Home of the Sun Devils.

We enthusiastically thank and welcome MACU and look forward to many memories to come.

— Arizona State Sun Devils (@TheSunDevils) August 2, 2023

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OFF TO THE BIG 12
Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and the University of Utah will join the Big 12 Conference in 2024, positioning the universities and their student-athletes for increased stability and success. "We are excited for this new chapter, a move that is necessary to remain competitive in top-tier Division I athletics," said ASU President Michael Crow. "We are joining a premier athletic conference and bringing with us programs on the rise, our rich traditions and history, and the metro Phoenix media market. We're in a good spot, and we are pleased to be with Arizona and Utah in the move."

 

Embrace the future, live in the present. ??#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/bgoVaQTYf5

— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) August 7, 2023

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PAC-12 COACHES OF THE YEAR
Ray Anderson-led hires Bob Bowman, Missy Farr-Kaye, Zeke Jones, Jay Santos, Trisha Ford, Matt Thurmond and Tim McCormack all have earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

 
SUN DEVIL PAC-12 COACHES OF THE YEAR 2014-15 TO PRESENT
2022-23: Jay Santos (gymnastics)
2021-22: Tim McCormack (lacrosse), Sheila McInerney (women's tennis), Trisha Ford (softball)
2020-21: Tim McCormack (lacrosse)
2019-20: Zeke Jones (wrestling)
2018-19: Matt Thurmond (men's golf)
2017-18: Zeke Jones (wrestling), Jay Santos (gymnastics), Trisha Ford (softball)
2016-17: Zeke Jones (wrestling), Missy Farr-Kaye (women’s golf), Bob Bowman (swimming)
2015-16: Charli Turner Thorne (women’s basketball), Sheila McInerney (women’s tennis)
2014-15: Tim Mickelson (men’s golf)


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NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HOSTING
No Pac-12 school is hosting more NCAA scheduled championships than Arizona State from 2021-26. Click here for the comparison, as ASU is the host school in men's and women's golf (for three straight years), the Final Four in 2024 (after hosting it in 2017, the first Final Four west of Texas since Seattle in 1995), both men's and women's golf regionals, as well as the Women's Final Four in 2026 in downtown Phoenix.


 

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MULLETT MULTI-PURPOSE ARENA
Nearly eight years to the day ASU became a Division I program, the hockey team moved into its permanent on-campus home, Mullett Arena. The 185,000-square-foot arena is part of ASU's Novus Innovation Corridor and was completed seven weeks ahead of schedule for $115 million. The state-of-the-art arena holds 5,000 fans, including over 8,000 square feet set aside for the ASU Hockey locker room, weight room, lounge and coaches' offices on the north side of the arena. Eight additional locker rooms are accounted for on the west side of the arena between the main arena and community ice sheet that can be utilized for visiting teams, youth programs, ASU club programs, and live events. Mullett Arena includes 20 luxury suites, two group suites, a large club lounge and event-level premium club seats and is also home to Sun Devil Wrestling and the Mountain America Community Iceplex. Construction began in January 2021 and the building received its certificate of occupancy on Friday, September 30, 2022. On February 14, 2022, ASU and the NHL's Arizona Coyotes formed the first agreement of its kind between a college and NHL team in 100 years. The last time an NCAA college team and an NHL team shared an arena was the Boston Bruins and Boston University from 1924-28 at Boston Arena, now known as Matthews Arena. Other improvements will now be made to prepare the arena to temporarily house Coyotes home games. These improvements include constructing coaches' rooms, equipment rooms, technology and other aspects of the new ASU arena according to NHL standards. The added cost is up to $19.7 million, which will be paid in advance by the Coyotes. The venue is managed and operated by Oak View Group, SCI Architects designed the arena and Mortenson Construction served as the design builder.

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"THE BEST GOLF FACILITY IN THE NATION"
Phil and Amy Mickelson provided the support for the eight-time NCAA champion women and the two-time NCAA champion men's golf teams to have quite simply the best practice facility in the nation. The move from Karsten to Papago has resulted in the coolest practice facility in all of college golf since moving into the facility in November of 2018. Built in 1963, Papago Golf Course was one of the original Valley golf courses and has been an asset to the Phoenix public-golf community. The Thunderbirds Golf Complex, designed by Douglas Fredrickson Architects and built by Rummel Contruction Inc., is a 7,000-square foot facility featuring a grand entry lobby, national championship displays, a team gym and locker rooms for both men's and women's teams, a fueling station, study lounge, team lounge, indoor hitting bays and more.

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ASU, GRAYHAWK AND GOLF CHANNEL BRING A NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP OUT WEST IN SUCCESSFUL MANNER
ASU and Grayhawk Golf Club were awarded the 2020-2022 NCAA Men's and Women's Golf Championships and had to hit reset when COVID canceled all 2020 championships. It brought nothing but success and incredible publicity to the Scottsdale area from 2021-23. The championships garnered incredible reviews.

 

All roads lead to one place... @GrayhawkGolf@TheSunDevils are excited to partner with Grayhawk to host the @NCAA Golf Championships from May 21-June 2

The Arizona golf community has worked together to prepare for this prestigious event ???

LEARN MORE ??https://t.co/AbyYBdh00C

— Sun Devil W. Golf (@SunDevilWGolf) April 28, 2021

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SOCCER/LACROSSE UPGRADES IN 2020
ASU continued its focus on expanding competitive and recreational play with the addition of the ASU Sports and Recreation Fields in 2020. The joint venture between Sun Devil Athletics (SDA) and Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS) provides many opportunities to both student-athletes and students. "We are very excited to bring this project, a collaboration between the University (EOSS) and Sun Devil Athletics, to completion," says Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson. "The opportunities the fields will provide to our student-athletes and students will be unmatched. This is yet another example of how different arms of the university can work together to make the student experience fantastic. I'm also pleased for our soccer and lacrosse programs as they will have first-class facilities on which to compete and recruit to."

 

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OUR BEST APR...IS THE BEST IN THE PAC-12
In the summer of 2022 Arizona State University announced a multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) average of 995 over a four-year period (2017-18 to 2020-21), which was an all-time ASU high and first in the Pac-12, the first time leading the conference. Since the 2015-16 academic year, ASU has averaged a 990-plus for each multi-year APR cohort that has been released. ASU's single year overall APR score for 2020-21 is 994, which is the highest score in Arizona State history. The national multiyear APR score for all NCAA Division 1 programs is 984.


 
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OUR ALUMS LEADING OUR PROGRAMS
Within the past decade seven Sun Devil alums were hired as head coaches in the department. Why are eight listed after this sentence? Because men's golf coach Matt Thurmond used the pandemic in a positive way, as he earned a MALM (Master of Applied Leadership and Management).  

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SUN DEVIL STADIUM
Arizona State University commemorated the end of a five-year endeavor to bring new life and energy to Sun Devil Stadium in 2019 with a fan-friendly, efficient and thorough renovation designed by Gould Evans with HTNB Corporation. Starting in 2014, the multi-phased renovation was choreographed between football seasons as not to displace the team and focused on a vision of upgrading the total attendee experience, and when all finished a new concourse, elevated seating, updated restrooms, enhanced club-level suites, improved concessions, expanded student sections and the largest video board in the were the final product.

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SPORT-BY-SPORT RECAPS
BASEBALL
One of its own is now in charge of the program, as Sun Devil All-American and Academic All-American Willie Bloomquist left the Diamondbacks in summer of 2021 to take over a program that he once helped lead to the College World Series. No question the program and its fans were robbed of potentially one of tops seasons in a decade and one of its top players in the long and storied history when eventual No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson's final season was cut short due to COVID, but with more than 50 players in the professional ranks in 2022 the strong tradition continues and is ready to get back to Omaha.

 

WHAT A SEASON ??

Spencer Torkelson is the first Tiger to have 30 HR and 90 RBI in a season since Miguel Cabrera in 2016.#RepDetroit pic.twitter.com/sN33Q7oikt

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) September 28, 2023

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MEN'S BASKETBALL
Hiring Bobby Hurley flipped the script on what ASU was doing, especially attendance. Everyone knows 2019-20 and 2020-21 hit the Sun Devil program hard in terms of momentum after Covid-19 stopped a three-year run that was among the best in Sun Devil history. In addition to a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance getting canceled in 2020 -- which would have been a first for the program since the early 1960s -- ASU had turned the corner on attendance. Desert Financial Arena averaged 10,140 fans in the three years starting with 2017-18, with 496,872 fans attending 49 Sun Devil games, as ASU racked up a 39-10 record. In the three previous seasons (51 games) ASU averaged 6,087 fans (310,459). ASU made back-to-back tournaments (2018 and 2019) for the first time since 1980-81 and posted their third straight 20-win season for just third time in school history. ASU's top-two average attendance marks in ASU history, including ASU-best 10,603 in 2017-18. The 2019-20 Covid-shortened season saw ASU (20-11) post its first seven-game Pac-12 win streak since the 1980-81 team won 11 straight, and would have made third straight NCAA appearance. ASU was 11-7 in the Pac-12 in 2019-20 after going 12-6 in 2018-19, just the second time in the previous 25 seasons the Sun Devils posted back-to-back winning Pac-12 records. Its best two non-conference wins in school history happened vs. No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 22, 2018 and at No. 2 Kansas on Dec. 10, 2017 and in November of 2017, ASU defeated two eventual 2018 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds in a span of a two weeks (Kansas and Xavier). Program matched highest AP ranking in school  history (third) in December of 2017 and its 9-3 out of conference regular season road games was second-best in nation. Also, prior to Coach Hurley, the last in-season tournament the Sun Devils had won was the 1994 Maui Invitational. ASU has now won three (2022 Legends Classic, 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event and 2017 Continental Tire Invitational).

 

Morning Reading ????@SunDevilHoops delivered a complete performance ??

CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP ??

— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) November 18, 2022

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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
After finishing with a 20-11 record in 2019-20, ASU extended its school record for consecutive 20-win seasons (seven) and finished No. 25 in the AP poll. The Sun Devils were preparing to make a school record seventh straight trip to the NCAA Tournament before the cancelation of the season was announced on March 12, 2020 due to Covid-19. During the 2019-20 season, ASU became the first unranked team to defeat consecutive Top-5 opponents when it knocked off then-No. 2 Oregon (72-66 on Jan. 10) and then-No. 3 Oregon State (54-47 on Jan. 12). The Sun Devils captured a pair of wins in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time since 2005. In 2018-19, Turner Thorne led ASU to a school record sixth consecutive NCAA appearance and 20-win season. In 2014-15, the Sun Devils won 29 games (second-highest total in school history), posted a second-place finish in the Pac-12 and a berth in the Sweet 16. In 2017-18, ASU won 22 games and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament while posting four Top 25 wins, including a 57-51 upset of No. 10 Oregon State in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. The 2014-15 Sun Devils posted the best overall start (18-1) and conference start (7-0) in school history and reached 20 wins faster than any other squad (22 games). Turner Thorne was named the 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year (coaches and media), for the second time in her career, after leading the Sun Devils to their second regular season Pac-12 championship. ASU would go on to earn its highest NCAA Tournament seed (No. 2) in program history. In 2016 ASU also tied the program records for most conference wins (16) and consecutive wins (15) and set the program record for most road wins (11).
 
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BEACH VOLLEYBALL
One of the best beach volleyball coaches in the nation the past few years was hired by ASU, as Kristen Rohr has joined the department. Brad Keenan was hired in 2017 after the program became an NCAA sport in 2016, and was created in 2014. Progress has been solid in a sport that is growing in popularity and will only get better with the sand courts being installed on campus in January of 2022 near the soccer/lacrosse field. Samantha Plaster was named the 2021 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, The team reached No. 10 in the nation in 2017 and has posted 13 wins over ranked opponents, including five times vs. Arizona.

 

A new era has begun for the Sand Devils ??

Kristen Rohr is our new head coach! Can't wait to get to work ????#SandDevils /// #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/FOREzqUm9K

— Sun Devil Beach VB (@SunDevilBeachVB) June 2, 2023

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FOOTBALL
The program won five straight Territorial Cups for the first time in decades (2018-22) and produced three-straight top-10 wins in the six years, as well as producing NFL talent like Brandon Aiyuk, Jack Jones and N'Keal Harry. Its academic numbers are the best in school history. On Nov. 27, 2022, the Sun Devils announced the hiring of Kenny Dillingham as the 26th head coach in program history. The 32-year-old Scottsdale native, the youngest head coach in the Power Five, is an ASU alum (2013) and was a graduate assistant on the Sun Devils staff from 2014-15. Considered one of the brightest offensive minds in the country, Dillingham garnered national attention in an emotional, compelling introductory press conference in which he laid out his plan to "Activate the Valley"  as the man now at the helm of the Sun Devils is fresh off a one-year run as Oregon's offensive coordinator in which he helped the Ducks become one of the most high-powered offenses in the Pac-12. Dillingham's hiring marks the first time in Sun Devil Football's modern era that a graduate has been named the head coach.

Coaching Sun Devil Football a Dream for Kenny Dillingham and His Family (Scott Bordow/ASU News, Dec. 13, 2022)

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MEN'S GOLF
The program with the best NCAA finishes recently is men's golf, who has challenged for the national title the past three years at the highest level with a third-place finish in 2021, a runner-up finish in 2022 and a tie for fifth in 2023. Matt Thurmond took over a program that lost Jon Rahm after the 2015-16 season and has put them in a place to win the NCAA title. After two top-25 final rankings in his first two seasons, the squad had posted five straight top-10 final rankings. In 2022, the Sun Devils took one step closer to the goal of its third NCAA Championship with its 2022 second-place finish, as it beat No. 1 ranked Oklahoma and defending NCAA Champion Pepperdine in match play before losing to Texas, 3 & 2, on June 1. It was the best finish for ASU since the 1996 team won the national title, fresh off a tie for third in 2021. ASU had back-to-back finishes of third or better for the first time since Phil Mickelson led ASU to three straight top-three finishes. The program had four All-Americans and won three titles in 2022, including the NCAA Stockton Regional, its first regional title since 2016, and then won the Las Vegas Regional in 2023. Thurmond's efforts were rewarded by his Sun Devil coaching peers, as he won the 2022 Frank Kush Award.

SUN DEVIL NCAA TOP-5 FINISHES -- PAC-12/10 ERA (1978-79 TO PRESENT)
2023: T-5th (0-1 in match play)
2022: 2nd (2-1 in match play)
2021: T-3rd (1-1 in match play)
2013: T-5th (0-1 in match play)
2009: T-5th (0-1 in match play)
1999: 5th
1998: 5th
1997: 5th
1996: 1st
1995: 4th
1992: 2nd
1991: 3rd
1990: 1st
1989: 5th
1982: 3rd
1981: 5th

SUN DEVIL NCAA TOP-3 FINISHES -- PAC-12/10 ERA (1978-79 TO PRESENT)
2023: T-5th (0-1 in match play)
2022: 2nd (2-1 in match play)
2021: T-3rd (1-1 in match play)
1996: 1st
1992: 2nd
1991: 3rd
1990: 1st
1982: 3rd

 

Jon Rahm gives back ??

The Masters Champion this week opened a Golf Garden at Niño Jesús Hospital in Madrid. pic.twitter.com/HW6lezljh4

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 11, 2023

--VIDEO: Jon Rahm’s incredible journey (by Cameron Cox, KPNX-12/May of 2016)

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WOMEN'S GOLF
The most successful program over the last decade in Sun Devil Athletics is arguably the Sun Devil women's golf. Under the direction of Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye the past nine seasons, the program has continued its tradition as one of the national powers. In 2017, Arizona State won its eighth NCAA Championship, the most of any women's golf program. It came in Missy Farr-Kaye's second full season, as she completed an unprecedented trifecta, winning a national title as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. It was a Sun Devil sweep at the 2017 NCAA Championship, as senior Monica Vaughn became the sixth member of the program to win the individual national title. The season was capped with Farr-Kaye winning National Coach of the Year and Monica Vaughn winning National Golfer of the Year. In addition to Vaughn, Arizona State's rosters have featured some of collegiate golfs biggest stars, including Noemi Jimenez, Linnea Strom, Olivia Mehaffey, and Linn Grant. During the past decade, Sun Devil Women's Golf has produced multiple All-Americans, All-Conference selections, Academic All-Conference honorees, and four Pac-12 Scholar Athletes of the Year (most of any Pac-12 program). The ASU pipeline to professional golf has continued, with dozens of Sun Devils moving on to the LPGA, LET, and Epson Tours. Sun Devil Women's Golf have earned over $75 million at the professional level. The programs sustained success has led to facility upgrades, as Sun Devil Women's Golf now has it's own facility located at Papago Golf Club. The move from Karsten to Papago has resulted in the coolest practice facility in all of college golf since moving into the facility in November of 2018. Coach Farr-Kaye isn't slowing down, as she recently signed the nation's No. 1 recruiting class in 2022 according to Golfweek.

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GYMNASTICS
Head coach Jay Santos was hired on May 27, 2016, and earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2023 and WCGA Regional Coach of the Year in 2021. In 2022, ASU won a share of the Pac-12 regular season championship for the first time in school history. As a team, the Gym Devils have qualified for NCAA Regionals for six-straight seasons, two of those seasons seeing the squad advance to the regional finals (2021, 2023). Since 2018, ASU has finished the season ranked in the top 25, including two in the top 15. The best finish was at No. 9 in 2021. There have been 11 team scores that are in the top 25 in the ASU record book, two being in the top 10 for all-time team scores. Santos has led the Gym Devils to 20 wins over ranked opponents, including historical wins over No. 4 Utah in 2023 and No. 15 UCLA in 2022, both teams ASU hadn't beat in 20 years. There have been two All-Americans during Santos' tenure with Cairo Leonard-Baker and Hannah Scharf. Both have three All-America honors and have competed at the NCAA Championships as an individual. Leonard-Baker was also ASU's first Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year ever in 2018. In 2019, Anne Kuhm was not only the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, but she also was a third-team academic All-American.

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HOCKEY
Sun Devil Hockey joined the NCAA Division I ranks at Arizona State University on November 18, 2014 and competed in its first season in 2015-16. ASU won its first game at Mullett Arena on opening night October 14, 2022, against Colgate, 2-0. Hockey already boasts two All-Americans, including second-team American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) All-American (2017-18) Joey Daccord who became the first Arizona State player to sign an National Hockey League (NHL) contract and play for an NHL team (Ottawa Senators, Seattle Kraken). In 2018-19, Sun Devil Hockey became the fastest program in NCAA Division I Hockey history to reach a postseason berth, just four seasons after its move from a club program to Division I. It was the first time since 1992 an independent team made the NCAA Tournament. That season, ASU went 21-12-1 through the regular season, its first 20-win season in program history. In seven years of play, ASU has defeated nine top-10 nationally ranked opponents. The highest was versus then-No. 4 Denver on December 6, 2019. In 2021-22, ASU defeated four top-10 opponents: then-No. 6 North Dakota (Oct. 29), No. 9 Northeastern (Jan. 11), No. 9 Cornell (Jan 1 & 2). 

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LACROSSE
The steady rise of Sun Devil Lacrosse has been one of the major bright spots over the last half of the decade of Sun Devil Athletics. In just five years, Arizona State has immediately established itself as a contender for the Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Tournament consideration. Head Coach Taryn VanThof was hired on July 5, 2022 and looks to continue the momentum built by two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year Tim McCormack. Over the past three seasons, ASU has a 26-17 record while accomplishing many program firsts. They hosted the 2022 Pac-12 Lacrosse Championship at Sun Devil Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium, making a run to the Pac-12 Championship game for the first time in program history. In the semifinal against No. 16 USC, a record crowd saw Arizona State defeat USC in dramatic fashion to move on to the finals. The Maroon & Gold were in contention for a at large bid into the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons. Standouts like Kerri Clayton, Berkeley Bonneau, Carley Adams, Emily Glagolev, and Taylor Pinzone have established a foundation for the program and made Sun Devil Lacrosse a nationally-recognized brand. In the five years of the program, three Sun Devils were named All-Americans, ten have earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors, and 50+ were Academic All-Conference selections. Because of the success on the field, support has been pouring in and facilities continue to be upgraded. Sun Devil Lacrosse has two brand new practice fields, one real grass and one turf, allowing them to train for any environemnt. A scoreboard was recently added to the practice field thanks to the generousity of a former player's family, an indciation of how quickly a Sun Devil Lacrosse community has been built.

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SOCCER 
Graham Winkworth assumed leadership of the Sun Devil Soccer program in 2017. After going 22-28-7 in his first three seasons, Winkworth has a record of 28-19-7 with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in his last three seasons. In 2020-21 (played in spring of 2021), ASU notched wins against UCLA, Stanford, and USC to become only the fourth team in Pac-12 history to beat all three programs in a season. With a 4-4-2 record in Pac-12 Conference play, the Sun Devils finished in the middle of the table after being picked to finish last in the preseason poll. ASU nearly made its first Sweet 16 appearance after falling to Duke 2-1 in 2OT. In 2021 Nicole Douglas set the single-season school records for goals (19) and points (45), led the nation in goals (19), goals per game (0.95) and points per game (2.25) to become the program's first All-American since 2002. In 2022, the Sun Devils got off to their second 6-0-2 start in three seasons and their first 2-0 start in league play since 2007. ASU would go on to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. Named Pac-12 Forward of the Year in 2022, Douglas will end her career as the program's all-time leader in career goals (60), points (140) and game-winning goals (18) breaking Stacey Tullock's records in all categories. Playing alongside Douglas was Eva Van Deursen who is currently tied for the program's all-time assist record of 25. 
 

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MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING
Bob Bowman's hiring on April 24, 2015, as head coach of both the men's and women's teams completely altered the trajectory of the Sun Devils swimming. Since Bowman's arrival, the Sun Devils have cemented themselves as one of the nation's premier programs, notching a program best second-place NCAA finish in 2022-23 and winning its first Pac-12 title. In 2022, the men finished top-six at the NCAA Championships for the first time in 40 years. As a freshman in 2021-22, Léon Marchand was a four-time Pac-12 Champion, a two-time NCAA Champion, the Pac-12 Men's Swimmer and Freshman of the Year and the CSCAA Men's Swimmer of the Year and he came strong again in 2022-23 earning men's swimmer of the year. He became ASU's first swimming national champion since 2000, and the first Sun Devil to win a title in the 200 breaststroke. The Sun Devil Men finished third at the 2021-22 Pac-12 Championships, their best finish in 27 years. School history was attained once more on Dec. 15, 2022, when the Sun Devil Men earned the No. 1 ranking in the CSCAA polls. It's the first time the Sun Devils have ever been tabbed as the country's top team.
 

DEVILS ON TOP ??

For the first time in program history, the Sun Devil Men are ranked No. 1 in the country in the latest @CSCAA polls ??

?? https://t.co/QdtiUB1h5s#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/s2Di3H9lAg

— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) December 15, 2022

 

PAC-12 CHAMPIONS ??

For the first time in program history, the Sun Devil Men have won the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships ??

?? @Pac12Network | #Pac12 Swim pic.twitter.com/ICtfAOAm92

— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) March 5, 2023

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SOFTBALL
Megan Bartlett was named head coach on June 30, 2022, replacing 2022 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Trisha Ford. The 2022 season saw Yannia Acuna earn Softball America Most Improved Award. The 2022 squad earned a No. 8 seed and advanced to host a Super Regional for the first time since 2018 and won the Pac-12 title outright for the first time since 2011 and won the UCLA series for the first time since 2015. In 2021, ASU swept Arizona for the first time since 2012. In 2018 the squad advanced to the World Series as the team made the NCAA Tournament 16 straight seasons. The 2022-23 season the program averaged 1,398 fans per home game, the top season average in school history.

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WATER POLO
Water Polo has had all three of their NCAA appearances (2014, 2016 and 2021) in the past decade, including their first time placing, as they placed third in 2021. ASU produced a conference-honored freshman of the year in Vanda Baksa, who shattered every freshman record in the program's record books. This was also our first ever MPSF major award winner for ASU. In 2021, the program had top-five upsets that will go down as some of the top wins at Mona Plummer. The Sun Devils upset seconde-ranked Stanford at home to open up MPSF Conference play with a 10-9 win, and again topped No. 2 UCLA at home with an 8-6 victory just a month later. It was the first time since 2014 that the Sun Devils had more than one upset of a top-five team in a single season. In 2021, the team put together a streak of 14 straight weeks placing in the top five of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Polls. The Sun Devils were fourth in the final ranking of the 2021 season, which was the highest final ranking since 2014 for the program.

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MEN'S TENNIS
The program was reinstated in 2016 as Matt Hill was named head coach that spring and since then has produced a Pac-12 Tom Hansen Award recipient in Nathan Ponwith; NCAA Qualifiers in Ponwith, Dominik Kellosky and Murphy Cassone; 13 ITA/Pac-12 Academic Award recipients; and Gran Slam participants in Max McKennon, Costantinos Koshis, and Cassone. In 2022, the program celebrated Cassone earning ITA National Rookie of the Year honors as the highest-ranked freshman in the country (15-5 singles, 9-0 in Pac-12 play) and earned Pac-12 first-team selection.

 

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WOMEN'S TENNIS
In her 39th season in 2022-23, Sheila McInerney's took the Sun Devils to its 35th straight NCAA Tournament and went undefeated at home(15-0) for the first time in school history. In 2021-22, ASU beat No. 4 USC and No. 1 Cal and for the second time McInerney was named both the ITA Southwest Region Coach of the Year and the Pac-12's Women's Coach of the Year. She was also awarded both in the 2015-16 season. In 2018-19, Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh were tabbed as the No. 1 doubles team in the country, becoming the first tandem in school history to earn the top ranking. The duo was also named the Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year in 2019. In 2016, the Panoho/Osbrone duo won the Pac-12 Doubles Championships. Before reaching stardom on the professional tour, Desirae Krawczyk reached the Round of 16 in singles at the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the best finish for a Sun Devil in the last decade. In the last decade, the Sun Devils have reached the Round of 32 six times at the NCAA Tournament.

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MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY
Both the indoor and outdoor programs have produced a plethora of NCAA champions, led by Turner Washington. The men have notched back-to-back NCAA top-20 finishes for the first since in more than a decade, and in 2022 the women finished eighth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, their best finish since 2009.

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TRIATHLON
On Oct. 20, 2015, Ray Anderson announced ASU was adding triathlon, and on Nov. 13, Cliff English was introduced as the head coach for the Arizona State's inaugural women's triathlon team, and all he has done is win six national championships. Amber Schlebusch became the latest to win the individual national title, English has earned National Coach of the Year and Tempe has been the host site for the national championships since 2017.

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VOLLEYBALL
JJ Van Niel was named head coach after the 2002 season and his squad posted the third-best start in school history. Entering 2023, Sun Devil volleyball had notched 18 wins over ranked teams in the past decade, including a 20-win season in 2014 and a final AVCA ranking of No. 22, after reaching as high as No. 15, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Macey Gardner (2012-15) in 2014 was named a third-team AVCA All-American and wasn AVCA All-Region honoree. In 2015, the team had 15-straight wins, good for second-most in program history, from Aug. 28-Oct. 4 and started the season 15-0, the second-best start in program history. Additionally, the team had four wins against ranked opponents (No. 9 Colorado State, No. 6 Illinois, No. 14 Arizona and No. 8 Stanford). In the win over Arizona in Tempe, they saw the highest home attendance for a match in program history with 5,153 people. Sun Devil Volleyball traveled to Florida and came up short against Florida State in straight sets in 2015.

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WRESTLING
Zeke Jones is an Olympian and proud Sun Devil coaching at the place he loves, and his leadership has resulted in 13 Sun Devils earning 33 total All-America honors, five conference titles, and numerous academic honors as the program gets it done on and off the mat. The program’s climb has been great, and it is back in NCAA championship discussions every season. The team has won five Pac-12 titles under Jones (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022) and has two fourth-place finishes (2021 and 2022).

SUN DEVILS' NCAA FINISHES UNDER ZEKE JONES
2023 - 7th
2022 - 4th
2021 - 4th
2019 - 12th
2018 - 10th
2017 - 14th
2016 - 36th
2015 - 29th