Following a 3-1 win over No. 13 TCU on Oct. 29, Sun Devil volleyball improved its overall winning streak to 12 games, and perhaps more importantly, head coach JJ Van Niel and his team have defeated nine straight Big 12 opponents.
"The Big 12 is a tough conference this year," Van Niel said. "We know we have to be prepared every night. I think our team has been really good at being focused on just the next match."
What makes this winning streak even more impressive is the quality of opponents ASU has faced. Of those nine straight conference wins, five of those squads have been ranked, and ASU has only dropped eight sets in the timeframe.
"We have definitely played a ton of really, really good teams," graduate middle blocker Colby Neal said. "A lot of teams have almost beaten us; it’s been super challenging, but I think it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward for the rest of conference (play) and also even going to the tournament."
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The Sun Devils' strength of schedule in 2025 has arguably been one of the toughest in the country, playing a total of eight ranked teams. The only two losses ASU has suffered were to now No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Pitt.
After the TCU matchup, the Sun Devils have now played exactly half of their conference schedule with nine more opponents remaining.
Outside of Colorado and BYU, no one on the rest of the ASU schedule is ranked heading into November.
Though the schedule certainly eases in the back half, it would be a mistake to believe the Sun Devils will take any of their future opponents for granted.
"My staff knows I don’t like talking ahead," Van Niel said. "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."
Even though the Sun Devils sit at the top of the conference, they know this is not the time to get complacent with what they have achieved so far.
"Our transition game wasn’t very good today," Van Niel said after the win against TCU. "Our serve receiving was really good, but our offense and (transition), we have been working on it; we have to clean some stuff up there."
Not only did Van Niel notice that the Sun Devils had some areas to improve, but so did his players.
"There (are) a lot of things that we are still pushing to improve on," sophomore libero Faith Frame said. "A big one is maintaining the same energy throughout the game, not starting high and then going low and then back up."
ASU's 18-2 overall record is right in line with what the Sun Devils achieved last year. In the 2024 regular season, ASU only lost two games, one of which came in conference play.
With the track record ASU has developed this season, the confidence is starting to rise for this team as they start the home stretch.
"There is a lot of confidence going into games with an idea of what we are going to see," Frame said. "I think that really helps us get comfortable with those kinds of games."
Last year's regular season run helped propel ASU to its first-ever Big 12 title and a win in the NCAA Tournament before falling in the second round. However, this team's goals look to be higher than a second-round exit.
"Our goal is to treat every opponent the same," Neal said. "The Big 12 is crazy this year, everybody is upsetting everybody, all the time. Every game could mean (the) conference, and just thinking of it that way, and also putting ourselves in the best position to be seeded for the tournament."
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Henry Smardo and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
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Mason Seal is a reporter in the sports department. He provides intel and paints stories about many different sports for The State Press. He is in his third semester at The State Press.
