In the News:
--Preslie Anderson is Finally a Sun Devil (GoPHNX, Oct. 2023).
Awards and Honors:
--AVCA Thirty Under 30 (April 2025)
Preslie Anderson was hired as JJ Van Niel's first assistant coach on January 4, 2023.
The 2024 season was one for the record books as Arizona State won its first conference championship in team history in the first season in the Big 12. Anderson helped Arizona State finish the season with a 30-3 record, going 17-1 in Big 12 play. The Sun Devils, who earned a No. 3 seed and hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, advanced to the second round, the second-straight year doing so. The 30 wins on the year are the most this century and one from the most all-time (31 in 1982). The winning percentage of .909 is the best in team history. The Sun Devils went undefeated at home in the regular season for the first time since becoming an NCAA sport. Before falling in the final match, Arizona State had an 18-match winning streak, the second-longest in program history. With winning comes awards and the Sun Devils bought in many honors in 2024. In addition to their monumental win total, they went 5-2 against ranked opponents, including a top-10 win over then-No. 8 Kansas. Arizona State never lost a match to an unranked team during the regular season. There were four AVCA All-Americans, four AVCA All-Region players, two major coaching honors, five Big 12 honorees, and five Big 12 Player of the Week nods. Four is the most All-Americans in a single season in program history for ASU.
In a historic 2023 season, Arizona State went 28-7 in Anderson’s first season with the program. The Sun Devils reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, winning two matches for the first time in program history. Arizona State had its second-highest win total in a season in program history with 28, which was the most wins in a season this century. To start the season, the Sun Devils went 14-0), the third-best start in team history. The team was ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the last 10 weeks of the regular season, reaching as high as No. 15. The Sun Devils finished the year at No. 16 in the rankings, the first time finishing a season ranked since 2014 and the highest final ranking since 1995. The Sun Devils finished the Pac-12 in a tie for third with a 14-6 record, the most conference wins in a single season in program history. That was the best finish since tying for second in 1993 in the Pac-10. The team picked up a pair of monumental wins, sweeping both No. 5 Oregon on the road and No. 3 Stanford at home. This was the first time beating two top-10 teams in the same season since 2010, but it was the first time with two top-10 sweeps in the same year. She helped coach three All-Americans in Marta Levinska (first team), Claire Jeter (honorable mention) and Shannon Shields (honorable mention). There were also four AVCA All-District honors and five Pac-12 nods.
She came back to her home state after a season as a volunteer assistant coach with TCU. She helped the team get to the NCAA Tournament and advance to the second round. Prior to that, she was a volunteer assistant with Arizona State in the 2022 spring season.
A 6-2 middle blocker, Anderson attended Cal from 2017-19, then after three seasons with the Bears she transferred to Baylor where she finished out her college playing career. As a freshman at Cal, Anderson finished the season ranked eighth in the Pac-12 with a .336 hitting percentage and led the team with 58 blocks. By her junior and final season with the Bears, Anderson had been named to the All Pac-12 team after earning an honorable mention as a sophomore. She led the conference in hitting average with a .402.
Anderson transferred to Baylor for her senior season. During the COVID spring season, she played in 10 matches with the Bears and collected 42 blocks. That season, Baylor made it to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the third round. Anderson then competed a fifth year in the fall 2021 season, utilizing her extra year of availability due to the pandemic. The Bears again made it to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen for the second-straight season.
Prior to college, Anderson attended Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz. She led her team to back-to-back state title games and was a three-time All-Arizona selection. She also has experience coaching with Aspire Volleyball Club, where she had played before her college career. Her father Mike Anderson was an All-American wrestler for the Sun Devils from 1987-92.