Over the last three years, Arizona State volleyball has had one of the greatest turnarounds in program history: from three straight losing seasons to two straight conference championships.
Coach JJ Van Niel joined the program in 2022 and, in two years, broke the Sun Devils’ single-season winning percentage record and produced the most wins in a season since 1982.
With ASU’s win over Houston on Nov. 21, the Sun Devils clinched the first back-to-back Big 12 titles in program history.
Last season’s squad included six graduate students and a senior. This time around? It’s almost a whole new team.
Van Niel hit the transfer portal hard
With most of the starting lineup in their final year of college eligibility, Van Niel went into the transfer portal this past offseason with a big job – to re-tool the Big 12 championship team.
“We knew we had holes to fill,” Van Niel said.
ASU brought in senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott, senior setter Sydney Henry, junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover, grad student middle blocker Colby Neal, junior middle blocker Ella Lomigora and sophomore libero Faith Frame.
Targeting key positions was a given, but Van Niel needed to fill specific needs.
“You’re looking at, do they fill the need on the court, but also the off the court stuff?” he said.
Those picks are paying off
The Sun Devils were expected to be good once again with Van Niel at the helm, but not quite at the level they’ve achieved in 2025.
ASU finished the regular season 26-3 on the year and 17-1 in conference play. The Sun Devils have not lost a home match in 2025 and clinched the Big 12 title with two games remaining.
“We’ve been a pretty resilient team,” Van Niel said. “We’ve won some matches that we maybe shouldn’t have, but they just kind of battled late.”
ASU has one win over a then-Top 5 team in the country and eight wins against Top 25 teams. The Sun Devils won 12 straight matches before falling to Iowa State at the end of October.
Since that loss, ASU has won eight straight matches, including season sweeps over No. 21 BYU, Arizona and No. 22 Colorado to end the regular season.
The six transfers have driven that success.
Noemie Glover
Glover played with the Oregon Ducks in the 2024 NCAA Regional Semifinals. The opposite hitter said she went into the portal with a focus on what she wanted in a program.
For her, that included building relationships with coaches and teammates off the court.
“It was good culture where you’re going to be pushed – where you’re going to be valued as a player and as an athlete and as a student,” she said.
Glover has grown into a weapon at the net. She leads ASU in points (429.5) and kills (375), and ranks third in blocks (104).
Ella Lomigora
Lomigora played her first two years at Long Beach State before transferring to ASU for her junior season. The middle blocker is a Corona del Sol High School graduate.
Lomigora ranks second on the team with 123 blocks, fifth in points (197.5) and assists (21), and sixth in kills (127).
Colby Neal
Neal, another Oregon transfer, came to ASU with a familiar face in Glover – and she joined her sister, junior outside hitter Jillian Neal.
Neal has four years of college experience. Her leadership has been pivotal for ASU’s success, as well as Glover coming to ASU.
“She has that mindset of steadiness, eliminating the nerves, eliminating the emotional side of playing and just really bringing it down to the basics … to be able to come out with wins,” Glover said of Neal. “Colby does a really good job of bringing that consistent energy.”
Neal leads the team with 162 blocks, ranks third with 260 points, fourth with 153 kills and fifth with 16 aces.
The former Ducks duo had smaller roles in Oregon, but they’ve become a dangerous combination in Tempe.
“Colby’s a really, really great leader,” Van Niel said. “You see someone who’s literally a grad student, like going as hard as anyone, playing a really tough position in the middle. She’s embraced it, and she works her butt off.”
Neal credits that improvement and ability to be comfortable and confident to her head coach.
“There are times where I can be really hard on myself, and he’s reminding me that I actually am good at volleyball, and he does the same thing for a ton of other people,” Neal said.
“Just like checking in on me or pulling me aside when maybe I look frustrated or I’m not doing so well. It always really helps and helps you feel a lot more encouraged moving forward.”
Faith Frame
Frame is the youngest of the transfers. Van Niel’s winning mindset pulled her to ASU.
“He’ll do anything to win, and so I think he wanted a team of girls that also had the same mindset,” Frame said. “I wanted to be in a successful program.”
She said she gelled right away with her upperclassmen.
“I’ve never been on a team that pushed each other so hard,” Frame said. “We’re not afraid to tell each other when we need to pick it up and when we need to be working harder.”
In addition to ASU’s team success, Frame has improved her own game dramatically. She leads the team with 338 digs and ranks third with 85 assists.
Van Niel — who calls her “Gumby” as a nod to her flexibility – said the libero has improved her serve-receive and become a good passer.
“She moves around well,” he said. “She’s really fast, she’s gritty on defense and she’s really upped her game.”
Tatum Parrott
Parrott is a Phoenix native who transferred to ASU from Grand Canyon University.
“JJ was one of my first phone calls … (I) really enjoyed the conversation and was pretty invested in what he was building here,” Parrot said. “I also love that it’s in my hometown still.”
Parrott is another player Van Niel said has improved drastically thanks to the level of play around her.
The homegrown talent ranks third on the team in kills (199) and digs (187), and ranks fourth in points (240) and aces (18).
Sydney Henry
Henry transferred to ASU for her senior year after three seasons with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Roos.
The setter said Van Niel and ASU’s program checked all her boxes. She talked to future teammates about the coaching staff, culture and the experience before transferring.
“I definitely chose ASU because of the coaching staff and the way they described their culture here,” Henry said. “I was looking for a good experience. I was looking for a competitive team. I was looking for a program that was going to push me … beyond what I thought my limits were.”
That mindset comes through in her performance. The setter leads ASU with 713 assists, is third with 21 aces and ranks fourth in digs (179).
“It’s very important that I get all of my hitters in rhythm, but it’s also fun because all of my hitters are amazing,” Henry said. “I can have so much creativity with them, and I have no doubt. They make my job easy. I just set them a ball, and I know that they’re going to put it down.”
Building connection and culture
The talent on ASU’s roster is unquestionable. But the chemistry and relationships are what’s taking this version of the Sun Devils to the next level.
“We’ve grown because we force each other to grow every day,” Frame said.
Van Niel made that a priority from day one. ASU took two team offseason retreats, including one in January. The retreat started with Marine training before sunrise and ended with a cellphone-free weekend in Flagstaff.
That gave the players a chance to build bonds and relationships before they dug into practice. Stronger practice, in turn, is what they leaned on to win throughout the season.
“It’s definitely tough bringing in a ton of new girls together that literally have never played with each other, but I think this team has grown together so much,” Parrott said. “Those special moments, team dinners, just those little activities together just helped us bond and get close with everyone. It’s been really cool to see it come together.”
Van Niel said this almost forces the players to develop stronger relationships. That’s clear in their performance on the court.
“A lot of it comes down to trying to create some environments where people can be vulnerable,” Van Niel said. “Then you learn about each other.”
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