Once underrated, Marta Levinska getting more attention as ASU volleyball goes to NCAA Tournament
Arizona State volleyball opposite hitter Marta Levinska has silently worked her way as one of the best players the program has ever seen.
Since coming to ASU in 2020 from Latvia, she's amassed 1,536 kills, the sixth-most in program history. However, ASU's string of seven losing seasons made Levinska's efforts fly under the radar and kept her out of a wider audience.
Her days of anonymity are now long gone now that she can finally tick off the NCAA Tournament from her goals as ASU opens against Georgia on Friday.
“Finally people get to recognize how talented she is and how capable she is,” Maddie McLaughlin said. “So much of that is because of our team success. If we’re bottom of the Pac, she wouldn’t get the same attention, even though she deserves it. She’s been a fantastic player all four years here. It’s really exciting that now the team is at a place where she’s able to be recognized in a way that she deserves.”
ASU struggled to make it out of the Pac-12 in Levinska’s first three years, including last year’s 13-19 finish, but a quick turnaround fronted by first-year head coach JJ Van Niel has made it possible for ASU’s first postseason entry since 2015.
The Sun Devils finished third overall in the Pac-12 and were rewarded in the postseason awards voted by other coaches as Van Niel was named Coach of the Year and Levinska earned All Pac-12 Team honors. Only past ASU players, Macey Gardner and Christine Garner, have earned a Pac-12 postseason honor in all four years.
All the pomp from the regular season that opened with a 14-0 start and finished with a 9-1 home record still lends to questions whether ASU is ready for the heightened intensity of the postseason. For Van Niel, experience isn't a major concern.
“I haven’t really talked about it aside from that we have to put pressure on practice to get used to it,” Van Niel said. “We have to go out and execute. We are going to hopefully start a little faster than we have been, but as long as our serving and passing game are on, we should be able to match up against those teams.”
Levinska’s consistency showed even more as her teammates thrived under Van Niel’s guidance. Setter Shannon Shields has had her most productive season, reaching 40-plus assists nine times and 50-plus twice. Outside hitter Geli Cyr has played well offensively and defensively with the second-most kills on the team (293) and the second-most digs (302).
“The biggest thing he’s done for us is just form us into a really cohesive, tightknit unit. He makes a big deal of highlighting everybody and everybody has a role regardless of its size,” McLaughlin said. “So Marta might have a really big, obvious role, but we also have the people who are putting up a great block for her in practice and making her better. He has really helped us feel that we are all integral to the success of the team.”
Under Van Niel, Levinska has reached new heights of her own. She is in the top 10 in the nation in kills (520), kills per set (4.68), points (5.36), and points per set (595.0). In a conference burgeoning with talent, Levinska has earned four Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week awards, the most in a single season in ASU history. In all but two matches, she's had double-digit kills and she has had 20 or more kills nine times.
“All the hard work we put in during preseason and playing these really good teams, these really good teams in the Pac-12, it made me into a better, smarter player,” Levinska said. “I have way more shot selection than I have before. Playing at this level, it definitely made me into a better player.”
In the sweep over Stanford, Levinska led all players with 17 kills on a .371 clip. She had her fourth double-double of the year with 12 digs.
“She’s a really consistent player, which as you ascend through the ranks of sport, it becomes about who is able to be consistently on,” McLaughlin said. “She plays with a ton of poise and is always in control of her body and her emotions and that shows. She’s a fantastic player and an even better friend.”
A look into the postseason
The fifth-seeded Sun Devils will play against Georgia (19-11-0) in the first round on Friday in Provo, Utah. If ASU advances, it will face host BYU or Weber State on Saturday at 7 p.m.
ASU’s schedule in the Pac-12 adds even more legitimacy to its resume heading into the postseason. Even though ASU went 3-4 against the tournament-bound teams, ASU swept both Stanford and Oregon. The win over Stanford was the Cardinal’s only conference loss.
The Sun Devils had a historic regular season, going 26-6. ASU had never produced a better record this century and it’s now become the third-highest win total in the program’s 50 years.
“Playing in the Pac, you have to be super resilient and have to be on every game because every team is good. If you’re not on, you’re going to lose that game to any team,” Levinska said. “I think we have done a pretty good job of fighting for our spot in the Pac and I think now it will show. Hopefully, we have trained our resilience and our mental strength to be able to push through these games.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU volleyball's Marta Levinska finally earning postseason debut
