Jillian Neal, left, ASU sophomore outside hitter, celebrates with the team after getting a kill. Neal finished the game with six kills against Prairie View A&M on Sept. 19. (Photo by Natalie Lopez/Cronkite News)
TEMPE – Arizona State women’s volleyball assistant coach Shaughn McDonald stood near the end line of the court during a team practice, helping players perfect the form on their serves ahead of the Sun Devils’ upcoming game.
At times during the team scrimmage, McDonald paused play to direct the team to be more aggressive or correct players’ positions on the court. McDonald, a former libero for the Saint Francis Red Flash men’s volleyball team, has endless experience on the court and in the coaching zone.
Last year, he was the director of operations and technical coordinator for the Houston Cougars, one of ASU’s new Big 12 opponents. This year, McDonald uses his prior experience to help the Sun Devils adjust to their new conference and competition.
“This conference (Big 12) has retained a lot of really good players, so I do feel fortunate to have a little bit of insight into what those players and those teams do,” McDonald said following a recent team practice.
The Cougars finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 19-10 and advanced to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Stanford in the second round to end Houston’s postseason.
McDonald then joined the Sun Devils coaching staff in March, citing ASU coach JJ Van Niel as a deciding factor in moving to the desert.
ASU libero Mary Shroll, a graduate student, serves the ball in the middle of the first set against Prairie View A&M on Sept. 19 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. (Photo by Natalie Lopez/Cronkite News)
“To listen to how he (Van Niel) talks about his players and his athletes and how much he very clearly cares about them, not just as athletes, but as people on the human side, was really impactful to me,” McDonald said.
In 2023, Van Niel led ASU to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 during his first season with the club. The Sun Devils won two games in the postseason for the first time in program history and finished the historic season 28-7.
The Sun Devils (11-1) have carried that momentum into this season, losing only one game as they enter their inaugural Big 12 schedule Wednesday night on the road against No. 22 TCU. ASU then travels to Waco, Texas to play No. 19 Baylor Friday in another Big 12 showdown that will test the Sun Devils as they attempt to make their mark in a new, highly competitive conference.
“We’re going to have to work really hard and we’re going to have to compete really hard,” McDonald said on continuing the success from last year.
McDonald’s Big 12 knowledge isn’t the only advantage he brings to the Sun Devils. In 2020, McDonald returned to his alma mater, Saint Francis University, as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Red Flash’s women’s volleyball team.
Throughout two seasons with the team, McDonald coached four all-conference honorees, including NEC Player of the Year, Madi Tyus, and NEC Rookie of the Year, Maggie Hogan.
He is hoping to produce similar results in Tempe.
“We’ve been able to see these little improvements over time, week to week,” McDonald said about working with ASU.
After opening the season by playing three weeks on the road, the Sun Devils returned to Desert Financial Arena last week to host the Webb-Burbridge Classic.
The Sun Devils beat Prairie View A&M on Thursday, Memphis on Friday and Montana State on Saturday to finish the tournament undefeated.
Sun Devils libero Mary Shroll had a game-high 14 digs on Friday, her 14th-straight match in double figures for digs.
Shroll, a business analytics master’s student, is playing in her second and final season for the Sun Devils after transferring from Loyola Marymount.
“It’s a tough conference, so we’re looking forward to the really good competition,” Shroll said.
ASU volleyball assistant coach Shaughn McDonald, right, helps guide the Sun Devil volleyball team into its first season of Big 12 Conference play. (Photo by Natalie Lopez/Cronkite News)
Shroll noted that McDonald, Van Niel and the coaching staff have compared the Sun Devils’ stats to their Big 12 opponents to find potential strengths and weaknesses.
“We have really high standards on our team and really high expectations,” Shroll said. “I think that’s something that will never change.”
The team’s only loss so far this season came against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sept. 13 during the Nebraska Classic tournament.
The Sun Devils took the lead during the second set but were unable to keep the momentum.
“We definitely could have gotten more blocks,” Sun Devils middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede said of the team’s shortcomings during the match.
Kjolhede finished the game with four kills.
During the final tournament game on Saturday, Kjolhede had a season-high 10 kills to help ASU secure the win.
“There are a lot of things that whenever we meet them next time, we’ll fix and it’ll be better,” added Kjolhede, who transferred from the Indiana Hoosiers program.
Before ASU joined the Big 12 in August, the Texas Longhorns dominated the 2023 season and won the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championship. The Longhorns left the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The Kansas Jayhawks were the second-best conference team last season. The Sun Devils will host a match against the Jayhawks, who are 9-1 this season, in November.
“We want to attack the Big 12,” McDonald said. “Our goal is to win it.”
