Arizona State Volleyball 2026: Season Outlook & Program Overview
Original analysis of the Arizona State Sun Devils program, coaching staff, and 2026 outlook.
2026 Season Outlook
Arizona State is no longer a team hoping to break through. The Sun Devils have won back-to-back Big 12 titles, went 28-4 with a 17-1 conference record in 2025, and were voted preseason No. 1 in the Big 12 - the first time they have topped the league poll in three seasons as a member. Nationally they open at No. 12, the highest-ranked Big 12 program. They made a statement immediately, beating No. 2 Texas 3-1 in the season opener at the Jeep AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee, against a Longhorns team that had swept them a year earlier and led the all-time series 8-2. Senior Noemie Glover headlines the roster as the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, an AVCA First Team All-American and the conference's Preseason Player of the Year. Around her, ASU added graduate Aniya Clinton from Kansas State and junior Una Vajagic, a starter on Wisconsin's national-semifinal team, both named preseason All-Big 12. Junior libero Faith Frame returns after All-Big 12 Second Team honors. The roster turned over hard: two All-Americans and three other starters graduated, and head coach JJ Van Niel returned 10 players while adding 10 more. But ASU handled the same problem last year, winning the league outright with an entirely new starting lineup. The number that matters most: Van Niel is 36-1 in regular-season matches at Desert Financial Arena.
Program History & Tradition
Arizona State joined the Big 12 from the Pac-12 in 2024 and won the conference championship in each of its first two seasons, in 2024 and again in 2025 at 17-1. The 2025 team went 28-4, the second-best winning percentage in program history, hosted the NCAA Tournament first and second rounds at Desert Financial Arena and won both matches at home before reaching the NCAA Regional Semifinal - the second time in three seasons and the fourth overall. The Sun Devils have reached that round in 2023 and 2025, and the rivalry with Arizona carried over intact from the Pac-12 when both schools changed conferences.
Head Coach Spotlight
JJ Van Niel arrived in Tempe after eight seasons as an assistant at USC and Utah, inheriting a program picked 11th in its conference that had lost its roster to the transfer portal. He has since won back-to-back Big 12 championships and is 36-1 in regular-season matches at Desert Financial Arena, a home record that ranks among the best in the country over that span. He is a two-time Kush Award winner. Preslie Anderson is associate head coach and Carley Bock directs operations; both are Hamilton High School alumnae, which is why ASU held its free August 14 open practice at Hamilton in Chandler.
What to Watch in 2026
Iowa State visits Desert Financial Arena on October 4 in a rare linear-ESPN window for Big 12 volleyball, and preseason No. 18 TCU follows on October 11 on ESPN2. The Duel in the Desert against Arizona runs twice - October 15 in Tempe and November 15 at McKale Center in Tucson. The hardest road date is October 24 at preseason No. 24 BYU in Smith Fieldhouse, one of the toughest environments in the country. The home finale on November 27 against preseason No. 15 Kansas, the Big 12's second-highest-ranked team, may decide the conference race. Note that Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, so listed MST times match Pacific time through early November.
