Nothing says "welcome to the Big 12" for Sun Devil Volleyball like two road games against ranked teams. In a conference of powerhouses and potential surprises, the road to a Big 12 title won't be easy for the Sun Devils.
ASU started the season going 11-1, losing their lone ranked matchup to a Nebraska team that has since swept two top-five teams and has received a first-place vote in the latest poll. ASU is now looking to build up ranked wins and fight for a chance at a Big 12 title heading out east.
READ MORE: ASU volleyball sweeps two, drops one in Nebraska Classic
"(The) goal is to be number one," graduate libero Mary Shroll said. "It's a really good conference, so we're super excited for just new competition, new teams, new players."
Last year the Sun Devils finished third in the Pac 12, behind top-10 teams Stanford and Oregon. The Sun Devils have high expectations this year after bowing out of their former conference this offseason.
"We want everyone to know that we're here for a reason," graduate middle blocker Claire Jeter said. "Yes, we had a good year, but it was not a fluke, and we lost a couple key players, but we brought some new key players in, and it's going to be a great season for us again."
READ MORE: Sun Devil volleyball starts season 3-0 after the LUV Invitational
First up for the Sun Devils is No. 22 TCU. The Horned Frogs are led by senior outside hitter Melanie Parra, who has 202 kills on the year and helped lead her team to an 8-2 start. TCU took one set in a loss to Nebraska early in the year and its only other loss was to top-10 team Wisconsin in five sets. The Horned Frogs also have a ranked win over Minnesota to complement their four sweeps.
ASU head coach JJ Van Niel understands the importance of this game, especially when a player like Parra is on the other side.
"Whenever you have a single person that's kind of dominating like that, that's always scary and tough, you got to get ready to defend against that," Van Niel said. "I think they have a lot of good pieces on that team."
After that, the Sun Devils travel to Waco, Texas to play No. 19 Baylor. The Bears also picked up a five-set win against Minnesota before losing to Wisconsin, a ranked Texas team, and SMU to complete their 8-3 nonconference schedule.
Assistant coach Preslie Anderson is all too familiar with this Baylor squad, having previously played with the Bears in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. This includes playing with seniors like Elise McGhee, who was on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and the All-Big 12 First Team last year. McGhee already has 127 kills for the Bears, including 20 against LSU.
The Sun Devils will make their first Mullett Arena appearance of the year against a 10-1 Utah Utes team on Oct. 2.
No. 17 BYU comes to Desert Financial Arena on Oct. 4. The Cougars were one of two teams predicted to finish ahead of the Sun Devils this season and have started 7-3 but lost to unranked San Diego.
ASU will then host rivals UA before heading to Lubbock to face Texas Tech Oct. 12.
Finally, the Sun Devils will get some time closer to home playing Houston and Colorado along with a nonconference matchup against GCU, all at Mullet Arena.
Things then heat up for ASU with a three-game road stretch. First, the Sun Devils travel to Tucson for a rematch against the Wildcats, up north to Utah to face BYU on Oct. 31 and the Utes on Nov. 2.
ASU then plays one of its toughest conference games of the season on Nov. 6. No. 9 Kansas rolls into town with three players noted on the Big 12 preseason team. For one, Senior setter Camryn Turner was the Big 12 Setter of the Year in the 2023 season.
Senior opposite hitter London Davis and outside hitter Ayah Elnady joined Turner on the preseason team and both earned regional first-team nods. Elnady was also All-Big 12 First Team in 2023. Kansas was predicted to win the Big 12 this year after losing out in 2023 to eventual national champion Texas.
Iowa State and UCF make their way to Tempe for the first time to end the season, with an away game at Colorado in between for the Sun Devils.
Edited by Jack Barron, Abigail Beck and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at aldeutsc@asu.edu and follow @AlanDeutschend3 on X.
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Alan is a sophomore studying sports journalism. This is his second semester  with The State Press. He has also worked at Blaze Radio.
