2021 Volleyball Schedule Released
TEMPE, Ariz. – Off the heels of the 2020-21 volleyball season played in the spring, the fall season is right around the corner and the Sun Devil Volleyball slate has been announced, beginning with a home tournament on August 27-28.
"I'm super excited for the upcoming season and to get to compete again," Head Coach Sanja Tomasevic remarked. "This past year has taught us a lot, there has been tremendous growth in our community and definitely within our program. We have a tougher than usual preseason, but we have a talented team that has gained experience, never quits and loves to compete. We are extremely excited to take on the competition this fall."
In the spring, Arizona State and other Pac-12 teams were held to conference games only due to COVID-19 precautions. This season, non-conference matches are back and ASU is taking advantage of it by hosting two non-conference tournaments, the first time hosting tournaments since 2018.
"We will finally get to host two preseason tournaments and bring some quality opponents to Tempe," Tomasevic added. "It's going to be even more exciting now that we are back to having fans and the 942 Crew in Desert Financial Arena with us. Can't wait to see everyone in there on August 27th!"
The Sun Devils will have another tough schedule, set to play 10 NCAA tournament teams. In non-conference play, ASU will host Louisville, UNLV and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi along with facing Nebraska and Utah Valley in away tournaments. Six teams on the schedule received national seeds, four of those being conference foes. Two teams on the schedule made it far in the tournament, with the Huskers making it to the Elite Eight and the Huskies going to the Final Four.
For the non-conference schedule, Arizona State will host two tournaments. The Sun Devil Volleyball Classic will kick off the season on August 27-28, highlighted by a matchup with Louisville. The Sparky Volleyball Invitational will wrap up non-conference play on September 17-18. In between those, ASU will travel to national-powerhouse Nebraska on September 3-4 for the Ameritas Players Challenge before driving up north to Northern Arizona for another tournament.
Pac-12 play will begin on September 23 at home against in-state rival Arizona, going for three in a row against the Wildcats in Tempe. ASU will also host Oregon on the 25th, a team the Sun Devils have beaten in three of the last four contests. The first road trip will be to the Bay Area on the first weekend of October, facing Stanford before heading to Cal. ASU beat Stanford earlier this year for the first time since 1982.
The Sun Devils will then be back home for two weekends in a row, first hosting the Washington schools. ASU split the series at UW last season when the Huskies were ranked No. 8. Arizona State will then welcome the LA schools, facing USC for the first time since 2019 due to the spring 2021 series' cancelation due to COVID-19 precautions.
Finishing out the first half of the conference slate, Arizona State will travel to face Utah on October 22 before flying to Colorado to play the Buffs on October 24. The Sun Devils will look to snap losing streaks against both opponents.
ASU will start the second half at home against Cal and Stanford on the last weekend of October. The Sun Devils will start November at Washington and Washington State before coming back to Tempe on November 12 and 14 to host Colorado and Utah. On November 19 and 21, ASU will play at UCLA and at USC, respectively.
To wrap up the regular season, Arizona State will play at Oregon State on November 24. ASU dropped both matches there earlier this year but swept the series in 2019. The last match on November 27 will be in Tucson against Arizona.
Times and dates are subject to change. For updates and announcements, follow the team on Twitter (@SunDevilVB) and Instagram (@sundevilvolleyball).