Surging Sun Devils Host Cal, No. 15 Stanford This Weekend

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Sun Devil Volleyball is back home this weekend for the penultimate home series of the season, hosting Cal on Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on No. 15 Stanford on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST.

How to Watch
Desert Financial Arena will be open to the public and tickets are available here. Fan safety protocol information is here. Friday's match will be on the Pac-12 Network and Sunday's will be on the ASU Live Stream. Follow along on social media, @SunDevilVB on Twitter and @sundevilvolleyball on Instagram, for more updates.

Both matches have themes that fans can dress to fit the theme. Friday's matchup against Cal is 942 Crew's 70s night and fans are encouraged to bring out their tie dye and other retro apparel. On Sunday, it is Halloween and Sun Devil nation is encouraged to wear costumes to the match, though props that look like weapons are not allowed. Candy will be handed out on the concourse by student-athletes from various Sun Devil teams.

Sun Devil Outlook
Arizona State (11-10, 4-6 Pac-12)

• The Sun Devils are coming off three wins in a row with two of those victories coming against ranked conference opponents, No. 16 UCLA on Oct. 14 and No. 19 Utah on Friday. ASU also defeated Colorado, who was receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, on Sunday in Boulder, which led to Sun Devil volleyball's first sweep on the road in Pac-12 play since 2019.
• The Sun Devils now have three matches in a row reaching double figures in blocks. In the win over Utah, the team had 17 blocks in the upset, which was the most for ASU since 2016. Claire Jeter had a career-high nine blocks and Iman Isanovic had six blocks (matching her personal best) on Friday night. Claudia Stahlke matched her season high in blocks with seven in the win over Colorado on Sunday, as well. 
• Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic racked up the awards for leading the Sun Devils offensively on this win streak. She was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, and on Tuesday she was the Sports Imports/AVCA Player of the Week. It was the first offensive player of the week nod for ASU since 2018 and the first national weekly award since 2015. She continues to lead the conference in kills this season with 335. On Friday in Salt Lake City, Isanovic had a game-high 24 kills in the upset over Utah, which was her fifth match this season reaching 20+ kills. She also had 18 kills in the win over Colorado on Sunday to lead the team.
• Sophomore pin hitter Marta Levinska, freshman outside hitter Geli Cyr and Jeter have also been additional factors for ASU's offense. Levinska is currently on a five-match streak of reaching double figures in kills and also has nine double-doubles this season. Against Utah, Jeter hit nine kills with no errors on a .450 clip and has reached double figures in kills nine times this season. Cyr had her career-high in kills with 13 and had her second double-double of her career on Sunday.
• Sophomore setter Ella Snyder has 10 double-doubles this season and has reached 50 or more assists in two matches this season, where she reached 51 assists on Sunday. Additionally, Snyder has reached 40 or more assists in the last five matches. 
• Junior libero Annika Larson is now in sole possession of first for total digs for the Pac-12 with 328. Larson had 24 digs for ASU's defense on Sunday in Colorado and 13 digs against Utah and now has 15 matches reaching double figures in digs and six matches notching 20 or more digs. 

Opponent Outlook
California  (7-14, 0-10 Pac-12)

• Cal is coming off of another tough weekend where they traveled to face No. 10 Washington and No. 22 Washington State. The Bears took the Huskies to four sets in the matchup in Seattle and were swept by the Cougars on Sunday in Pullman. 
• Last season, the Bears finished with a 1-21 record with a win in the 2021 season facing Pac-12 competition only over then-No. 15 Stanford on Feb. 12 in Palo Alto. Cal finished in 12th place in the conference.
• Friday's matchup with Cal will be the second time the Sun Devils will face the Bears during the regular season. On Oct. 3 when ASU was in Berkeley, the Sun Devils took down the Bears in four sets, which was ASU's first Pac-12 win of the season and ended a four-match skid. ASU has won the last three matchups with Cal.

No. 15 Stanford (12-6, 7-3 Pac-12) 

• The Cardinal traveled to the Washington schools last weekend where they split the two matches. In Pullman on Friday night, Stanford defeated No. 22 Washington State in a five-set match and were swept by No. 10 Washington on Sunday in Seattle. Stanford has four ranked wins this season.
• In the spring 2020-21 season, Stanford only played in ten matches due to various match cancellations because of COVID-19 related issues and additional injuries within the program. The Cardinal finished with a 2-8 record in an abbreviated season and were 11th in the conference.
• Arizona State last played Stanford on Oct. 1 in Palo Alto where they came up short in four sets to the Cardinal. In the match, ASU had seven service aces and Isanovic and Levinska both reached double figures in kills. 
• Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Caitie Baird leads her team in kills with 285 and is fourth in the Pac-12 in kills. She was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 18. The leader in assists is freshman setter Kami Miner who has 794 assists on the season, and leads the Pac-12 in assists per set with 11.27. Miner was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times on Aug. 30, Sept. 13 and Oct. 4