Several Sun Devil squads crack national rankings

TEMPE, Ariz. — Several Arizona State teams have broken into national rankings this week. While many Sun Devil fans and alums have closely been following the football team this season, several other programs have had great seasons and deserve recognition. Let’s take a look.

Multiple Arizona State teams crack national rankings

Sun Devil Hockey:

The Arizona State men’s ice hockey team broke into the national rankings for the first time since 2020 this week. The Sun Devils began their season with a dominating exhibition win against rival Arizona. They then followed that up the next weekend with a sweep over Merrimack. The Warriors were ranked at the time.

Head coach Greg Powers has a lot of talent on this hockey team and has made it clear the goal is for the team to make the NCAA tournament. That can be incredibly difficult to do for an independent team. However, Arizona State looks like they’re off to a nice start.

The Sun Devils have a home series against Northern Michigan next.

Arizona State Volleyball:

Arizona State volleyball is having a dream season under their new head coach JJ Van Niel. The Sun Devils are a whopping 19-2 overall and 7-2 in Pac-12 play. One of those two losses came to No. 3 Stanford.

This week Arizona State is ranked No. 17 overall in the country. The Devils are coming off the best win of the season so far, an impressive sweep over No. 5 Oregon, in Eugene.

The 2023 Sun Devil volleyball team started the season 14-0, the best start for the program since 2015 and the third-best start in program history.

ASU travels to Boulder for a matchup with Colorado on Oct. 22. After that road trip, they return for a series with the Bay Area schools in Tempe.

On Oct. 27 ASU hosts California at Desert Financial Arena and on Sunday, Oct. 29, ASU looks to exact their revenge against No. 3 Stanford. That heavy-weight bout will take place at Mullett Arena.

I think it’s worth a trip to Tempe to check out this team.

Arizona State Soccer:

The Arizona State women’s soccer team found themselves ranked in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week. The Devils clocked in at No. 24. The Sun Devils are 10-2-4 and on a four-game winning streak. They’re also one of the best defensive squads in the country.

Just last night goalkeeper Pauline Nelles broke ASU’s single season clean-sheet record. Nelles has nine shutouts and Arizona State has played *checks notes*… 16 games.

Wow.

Her most recent clean sheet came in one of the biggest wins of the season. After finding themselves ranked, the Devils welcomed a pair of powerhouses to Tempe this weekend. First off was No. 11 USC. Arizona State took care of business at home, winning 1-0.

The back end of the home stand, and the last home game of the season, is against No. 2 UCLA on Sunday.

Thank you for reading Sun Devil Daily! Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with Arizona State news! For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Managing Editor at brendonpricco@gmail.com. Also, make sure to check out the Sun Devil Daily shop for merchandise! Forks up!