Sand Devils Set for NCAA Championships

TEMPE – The No. 12 seed Sun Devil Beach Volleyball will head to Gulf Shores, Alabama this weekend to kick off their first-ever NCAA Championship Tournament run. Arizona State will take on No. 5 Cal Poly in the first round on May 3 at 8 a.m. MST/10 a.m. CDT. 

The dual can be viewed on ESPNU and fans can follow along on Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter), @sundevilbeachvb, for updates. All of the action on the first day will be on ESPNU. 

Should ASU advance, their next opponent will be the winner of the Florida State/Washington dual and will play on Saturday at 8 a.m. MST/10 a.m. CDT and will be on ESPN2. 

Sun Devil Outlook

No. 12 seed Arizona State

• This will mark the first-ever NCAA Championship appearance for the Sand Devils in their already historic season. The team has collected 21 wins which ties the record for most wins in a season set in 2019 (21-14). On top of this, ASU started its season at 6-0, the best start in program history. 
• ASU has raked in 11 ranked wins this season, the previous record was held at three during the 2019 season. Before this season, there were 13 total ranked wins. The Sand Devils earned their highest ranked win in program history against then-ranked No. 2 Stanford, 3-2, at the Pac-12 South Tournament. At the Pac-12 Championships, ASU upset No. 8 Cal, 3-2, for a second top-10 win this season and third in program history.
• Senior Taryn Ames and graduate Lexi Sweeney are the only pair to play together the entire season. As the No. 3 pair, the duo has a 20-9 record. They have each earned 61 wins throughout their Sand Devil career, putting them at No. 3 for most individual career wins. They became the fifth pair in ASU history to make the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team, a second for Sweeney. 
• Freshman Ava Williamson currently leads the team in wins with a 24-6 record between the one and two pairs. Earlier this season, Williamson and sophomore Arden Besecker dominated as the No. 2 duo and earned a spot in the record book as they won nine straight games together. Besecker is also no stranger to winning, as she has the second best record on the team at 22-6. 

Opponent Outlook

No. 5 seed Cal Poly (29-6) 

• The Mustangs collected an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships after a 29-6 record. The team collected nine ranked wins, defeating teams such as TCU,…