TEMPE– The No. 10 Arizona State Sun Devils (18-4 overall, 9-2 Big 12) returned home to Tempe and responded with a win over the Houston Cougars (13-9, 6-5) on Sunday, defeating Houston 3-0 to cap off the weekend.

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From the jump, ASU started slow and went back and forth early, but after a media timeout in the first set after falling behind by one, the Sun Devils executed much better and began building a lead.

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“We started putting a lot of pressure on it from the service line. I think at the beginning we were putting pressure on but not taking advantage,” head coach JJ Van Neal said.

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Arizona State’s fast-paced offense and strong defense made Houston work for points early. The Sun Devils were all over the court, getting digs and kills, and finished with a .231 hitting percentage to win the set 25-19.

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“We were able to run our offense in transition and put the pressure on them.” Van Neal said.

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After the first set, it was all Sun Devils.

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Houston huddled up, trying to find answers for the second set. Still, Arizona State’s pressure from the service line troubled the Cougars. Houston struggled against the Sun Devils’ defense, hitting a -0.083 percentage in the second set and also force nine errors, leading to a dominant 25-10 set win for the Maroon and Gold.

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The Cougars pushed back to take the first two points of the third set before Arizona State won, 25-16.

“Every single play is important, so taking care of the ball and never taking a play off because at the end of the day we want to be the top team and if we want to be the top team then we can’t be taking plays off,” junior libero Faith Frame said.

Houston seemed to back down after ASU took the lead on the third point, as players and coaches looked deflated and didn’t use either timeout on a must-win set.

As a team, Arizona State had pressured the net all night, finishing with 10 team blocks that denied Houston points.

“I love our block; our block does such a good job. They also did a good job of when they were making changes, showing me and letting me know so that I was ready to work behind that,” Frame said.

“They were really good tonight.”

Glover creates pressure, others pick it up

Senior opposite hitter Noemie Glover, a Big 12 player of the year candidate, showed Sunday that teams would have to focus on her and force other players to beat them.

Despite the Cougars focusing on Glover, she still made an impact on the defense with 10 digs and added 6 kills.

Junior outside hitter Una Vajagić was the offensive power for the Sun Devils with a game-high 15 kills and 3 aces, and Sophomore outside hitter Maéva Schalk added 7 kills and a team-high 12 digs to help take focus off Glover.

With freshman setters Elle Mottola and Živa Labinjan both out with injuries, senior setter Isabella Costantini played a huge role for the Sun Devils, stepping up and delivering 29 assists, 4 digs, and 4 blocks.

“The whole team is believing in her. She’s in a tough position as the only setter, but she’s bringing great energy every day in the gym too in practices, and that’s given us confidence too,” Vajagić said.

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The Sun Devils now improve to 7-1 at home this season.

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On November 6, the Sun Devils travel to United Supermarkets Arena for a Big 12 matchup against Texas Tech.