No. 7 Arizona State Volleyball Rebounds From Stunning Loss to Finish Snyder-Park Classic 2-1

The Sun Devils stumbled against UC Davis in their home opener before responding with victories over No. 24 Oregon and San Diego at Desert Financial Arena.

The ASU volleyball suffered an unexpected loss in its home opener, but bounced back to capture its final two matches in the Snyder-Park Classic at Desert Financial Arena Sept. 10-13, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Arizona State's first home weekend of the season didn't begin the way the seventh-ranked Sun Devils envisioned. It ended much more to their liking.

After suffering a surprising four-set loss to UC Davis on Thursday, Arizona State responded by defeating No. 24 Oregon and San Diego on consecutive nights to finish 2-1 at the Snyder-Park Classic at Desert Financial Arena.

The Sun Devils emerged from the weekend 7-2 overall, adding their third victory over a ranked opponent this season and showing an immediate ability to respond after one of their poorest performances of the young season.

UC Davis Spoils ASU's Home Opener

Arizona State entered Thursday riding a three-match winning streak, with all three victories coming via sweeps at the Colgate Volleyball Classic.

UC Davis abruptly ended that momentum.

The Aggies defeated ASU 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, handing coach JJ Van Niel just his third home loss in four seasons with the Sun Devils.

UC Davis controlled several important statistical categories, finishing with advantages in kills (56-44), blocks (14-9) and assists (53-39).

Noemie Glover provided one of ASU's bright spots with a season-high 19 kills, eight digs and four blocks. Una Vajagić added 12 kills, while Faith Frame finished with 13 digs.

Ella Lomigora also reached a career milestone, recording four blocks to surpass 300 for her career.

ASU managed to extend the match by winning the third set but couldn't complete the comeback.

"They were on it and we couldn't get them on serve receive," Van Niel said afterward. "They were consistent the whole night and they did a nice job offensively and we couldn't slow them down."

With No. 24 Oregon waiting less than 24 hours later, the Sun Devils didn't have much time to dwell on the loss.

Sun Devils Answer Against No. 24 Oregon

ASU's response was emphatic.

The Sun Devils opened Friday's match with a dominant 25-13 first-set victory and eventually put away previously unbeaten Oregon in four sets, 25-13, 16-25, 25-22, 25-17.

It was Arizona State's third Top 25 victory of the season and improved Van Niel's record against ranked opponents at ASU to 19-11.

Freshman outside hitter Grace Martin provided the breakout performance of the night. Martin recorded a career-high 12 kills while hitting .312, reaching double figures for the first time in her college career.

Glover led ASU with 13 kills and added seven digs and six blocks, while Vajagić contributed 11 kills.

Arizona State's work at the net was particularly significant after struggling to slow UC Davis. The Sun Devils recorded 11 blocks, led by a career-high eight from Antonina Serafinowska. Zoey Burgess added seven kills while hitting .636.

ASU also produced eight service aces, including three from Piper Rama.

The victory came before a crowd of 4,667, the sixth-largest attendance for an ASU volleyball match since 2013.

"Obviously fired up with how we responded," Van Niel said. "We knew we had a tough matchup with Oregon. I thought the team really, really responded well."

Serving, Defense Overwhelm San Diego

Arizona State carried that response into Saturday's tournament finale.

The Sun Devils defeated San Diego 25-15, 23-25, 25-11, 25-14 behind their best serving performance of the season and a suffocating defensive effort.

ASU produced a season-high 13 aces, its most in a match since 2023 and tied for the sixth-most in the program's rally-scoring era.

Rama led the way with a career-high five aces.

The Sun Devils were equally impressive defensively, holding San Diego to a .000 hitting percentage — the Toreros' lowest since at least 2017. ASU also recorded 11 blocks for the second consecutive match.

Glover completed a productive weekend with 18 kills on a .350 hitting percentage and seven digs. She reached double figures in kills in all three matches of the tournament.

Vajagić recorded her first double-double of the season and 11th of her career with 13 kills and a season-high 13 digs. Freshman setter Elle Mottola added 34 assists and a career-high 13 digs for her second career double-double.

Frame led ASU with 15 digs as the Sun Devils accumulated a season-high 63.

After San Diego evened the match by taking the second set 25-23, Arizona State dominated the remainder of the night. The Sun Devils won the third set 25-11 while holding the Toreros to a minus-.138 hitting percentage, then used an 8-0 run to pull away in the fourth.

"The serving was phenomenal," Van Niel said. "Before the match, I told them our big key was going to be defensively, let's shut them down. And we held them to zero, so we did a great job there."

ASU Heads Back on the Road

The weekend wasn't the clean sweep Arizona State hoped for when it returned home after three weeks on the road, but the response to Thursday's upset may ultimately prove more significant.

ASU went from being outblocked 14-9 by UC Davis to producing 11 blocks in each of its final two matches. The Sun Devils followed three aces against the Aggies with eight against Oregon and 13 against San Diego.

Glover also emerged as ASU's most consistent offensive weapon during the tournament, producing 50 kills over the three matches.

The Sun Devils now return to the road for the SLO Classic in San Luis Obispo, California, where they will face Stanford on Thursday and host Cal Poly on Friday to close out non-conference play.