ASU volleyball’s NCAA tournament run ends in Sweet 16

No. 2 seed Arizona State volleyball’s quest for an NCAA championship has come to an end. 

The Sun Devils were defeated in four sets (24-26, 25-19, 13-25, 18-25) by No. 3 seed Creighton in the NCAA Regional Semifinal on Thursday, Dec. 11, in Lexington, Kentucky. 

“There wasn’t one defining moment, but I think we all kind of knew coming into this how bad we wanted to repeat this year,” setter Sydney Henry said. “We knew the history of ASU, and I wanted to continue that legacy, so I think from the moment that we all stepped in there together, we knew what we wanted to do, how to get there, we knew it was going to take hard work, and so I think just all along, that was the plan for us.”

Creighton finished with an 8-4 advantage in service aces.

Opposite hitter Noemie Glover had a valiant effort for the Sun Devils, posting 17 kills on a .517 hitting percentage with just two errors, followed by Kiylah Presley and Bailey Miller’s nine kills each. 

But ASU faced a strong attack from Creighton, which saw National Player of the Year finalist Ava Martin post 23 kills on a .388 hitting percentage. Martin wasn’t the only one providing the offense and was helped by Kiara Reinhardt’s 15 kills and Jaya Johnson’s 12 kills.

“Hats off to Creighton, really clean volleyball,” coach JJ Van Niel said. “They put a lot of pressure on us from the serving line, and we weren’t able to find the right answers.”

Even with having three fewer kills than the Bluejays in the first set, ASU looked all over the place and was out of system.  

Neither team led by more than three in the first set, which led to it going down to 26 points for the winner after Glover’s kill tied it at 24. Setter Brynn Covell’s service error gave the Bluejays the set point, and Martin closed out with a kill. 

Creighton used the momentum from the first set for a strong start and led 11-8, but Glover’s back-to-back kills got ASU within one. 

ASU’s right side provided a problem for Creighton as Presley made a huge impact in the Sun Devils’ turnaround, getting five kills and two blocks in the second set. 

“I think Sydney was putting me in good positions to score,” Glover said. “I think that was kind of the main reason that I’m able to find openings there, our passers were doing well to put the ball in good position, and then just seeing the floor and having diverse shot selection.”

However, ASU couldn’t get a handle in the third set after Creighton mounted two separate 5-0 runs, the biggest runs of the match up to that point. The Bluejays outscored the Sun Devils with 17 kills to ASU’s eight, and were 3-0 on service aces.  

“They just spun the rotation just slightly, and they were getting their really, really good servers on the line,” Van Niel said. “They mixed up really well, and they got us in some trouble there. They were playing really clean volleyball, and we’re patient, and we block a ball, and they cover it, and they just kind of kept chipping away and chipping away. They’re really, really scrappy, so that was probably the big adjustment.”

Creighton never surrendered a lead in the fourth set, but ASU had several runs and even came within four points to trail 16-12. But the Sun Devils couldn’t score consecutive points until they were down by eight points, and Creighton needed two more to win. 

ASU finished the season, 28-4, and still hasn’t gone past the Sweet 16 round.  

Reach the reporter atjenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com, as well as@jennarortiz on X. 

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