TEMPE, Ariz. – On a magic‑themed game day, the Arizona State Sun Devils brought just that to the court at Desert Financial Arena in front of a crowd of 3,022. 

Sun Devils head coach JJ Van Niel showed his appreciation for the home crowd on Sunday.

“Great environment tonight,” Van Niel said. “The fans were huge for us. They were so loud. It felt like there were 8,000 people in there.”   

No. 11 ASU (13‑2, 4‑1 Big 12) dominated on its way to a sweep of No. 8 TCU (14‑3, 5‑1 Big 12) at Desert Financial Arena on Sunday, Oct. 11, picking up a vital win in the race for first place in the Big 12. The Horned Frogs struggled to find rhythm throughout the match, allowing the Sun Devils to feed off their mistakes.  

A match filled with huge blocks, aggressive serves and strong defense ultimately secured an ASU victory over TCU, making it impossible for the Horned Frogs to gain any momentum. 

Across the entire match, the Sun Devils racked up 12 total blocks to shut out TCU. 

Van Niel loved what he saw from ASU's defense in the win.

“We talked about being really scrappy on defense and held a really good team to a .048 and that started from the service line,” Van Niel said. “All around, our offense was on, the defense was on, it was great.”  

One of the Horned Frogs' top attackers, senior outside hitter Becca Kelley, was forced to hit at a .000 in the first set due to an aggressive Sun Devils front row. Overall, Kelley only mustered a .040 hit percentage in the loss.

Keeping Kelley off of the statsheet was a point of emphasis for senior opposite hitter Noemie Glover and ASU.

“Kelley is a big force for them, so being able to stop her was huge for us getting those digs up,” Glover said. “Just keeping the momentum on our side, we know where we want to score and we know that it takes all of us.”  

Both of the Sun Devils' setters, freshman Elle Mottola and senior Isabella Costantini, made it a challenge for TCU blockers to find the pin hitters across the net.  

Mottola and Costanatini made smart plays by dumping the ball over the net after the second contact, making it difficult for the Horned Frogs to receive. 

Serving also played a huge role in adding pressure to TCU, with Glover's work at the service line highlighting that value during the match. 

Recently, Glover has been working on her serve during practice and left the crowd in uproar after her aggressive topspin serve that ended up as her first career ace.  

Glover is proud of the strides she has made as a server.

“First career ace means a lot to me,” Glover said. “I have been putting in a lot of work on my serve. I want to be on the floor with my teammates, so it’s cool to see that pay off a little bit.”  

Glover ended the match with a total of eleven kills, hitting at a .360.  

Glover's partner in the front row, junior outside hitter Una Vajagić, continues to make an impact on the court for ASU after recently being added to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List.

Vajagić put together another strong outing on Sunday, tallying eight kills, two service aces and 12 digs.  

Following the big win, the Sun Devils welcome Arizona to Desert Financial Arena on Thursday, Oct. 15, marking the first Territorial Cup matchup of the season.  

With Sunday’s test out of the way, Van Niel’s full focus has shifted to keeping ownership of the state.

“I am just so happy that we played so cleanly,” Van Niel said. “Now, we are going to go try to repeat that performance against our rivals.”