TEMPE- The No. 6 Arizona State Sun Devils (18-2, 9-0 Big 12) women's volleyball team extends its winning streak to 12 games by beating the No. 13 TCU Horned Frogs in four sets.
The Sun Devils are 9-0 at home throughout this season after winning a conference game for 25th straight time.
“I think different players have stepped up at different times, and I do feel like the things we've been working on to get better at is translating on the court," Arizona State women's volleyball head coach JJ Van Niel said Wednesday.
"It's turned out to wins. I think one of the things of the team this year that to me has been most impressive is, fighting even when your backs against the wall. We've got a lot of times where I would have thought we would have lost, and late in the set, people are making big plays and they've been really resilient.”
In Arizona State's win, two players, Junior opposite Noemie Glover and senior outside hitter Bailey Miller had 11 kills each. Additionally, the Sun Devils out-hit the Horned Frogs .283 to .060, which is the sixth time in Big 12 play they've held an opponent to a sub-.200 clip and the third time below .100.
In the first set, Arizona State led in blocks (3-0) and aces (2-1), has been aggressive on both ends against TCU, and won 25-11.
Although the Sun Devils lost the second set by three points (25-22) to the Horned Frogs, there were some miscommunications.
Fortunately, Arizona State won the next two sets to ultimately win the game and extend its winning streak to 12 games. Their dominant start in the third set, followed by an impressive ending in the fourth set, has helped set the tone for the Sun Devils.
“I think in the second set, we were a little bit sloppy," Arizona State graduate middle blocker Colby Neal said. "We definitely weren't holding ourselves to the same standard as we usually do. Also, TCU is a really good team, so if we're not doing our best, they're going to take advantage of that, like you saw. But luckily, we were able to come back in the third and the fourth and be disciplined and intentional again.”
As the Sun Devils have nine games remaining, all against teams in the Big 12 Conference, Arizona State aims to continue building on their momentum.
"The Big 12 is a tough conference this year, so we know we have to be prepared every night," Van Niel said. "And I think our team's been really good at being focused on just the next match. My staff knows I don't like talking ahead. I don't like looking forward, and we try to make sure we control what we can control, which is just the very next match."
“I think it's really good that we're playing such good teams right now," Arizona State sophomore libero Faith Frame added. "It's obviously preparing us for the postseason later on, the tournament, so I think playing these good teams now is just preparing us, and it's been really fun.”
The Arizona State Sun Devils women's volleyball team will continue their preparations for this year's NCAA Tournament. They are set to travel to Iowa State to face the Cyclones on Friday.