It hasn’t even been a whole month since the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship ended, and the college volleyball scene is already in a state of flux ahead of the 2025 season. Over the past few days, the transfer portal has seen some shocking names who are set to find themselves new camps. However, amidst the chaos, it looks like Arizona Volleyball is already making moves to beef up its roster for the road ahead.

The Sun Devils volleyball squad only made it to the second round of last year’s national campaign before falling to Texas A&M. But they’re determined to secure better results this time around. With that in mind, Arizona Volleyball seems to have found new talent from foreign shores to make its 2025 season one to remember.

Sun Devils Volleyball took to X on January 7 to announce their latest signing. According to this social media update, Maila Schnarndorf Ribeiro, a libero who played for Fluminense FC of Brazil for the last two years, is set to arrive in Tempe later this month. The 19-year-old volleyball player has been playing professionally for quite some time and will undoubtedly be a scintillating addition to Arizona Volleyball’s 2025 roster.

The 2024 Big 12 champs finished off the season with an overall 30-3 record (17-1 conference). The historic Big 12 triumph marked the first time the Sun Devils Volleyball lifted the trophy, and now, with a new libero among their ranks, they should look at an even better campaign in 2025. The transfer portal will open again in May, but Arizona can now rest easy for a while after getting the Brazilian junior national volleyball star on board.

With 54 matches under her belt, Maila Schnarndorf Ribeiro will bring crucial experience to the table that can become an invaluable asset to the team. However, while hopes for the new season are justifiably high, it was 2024 that set the bar high for Arizona’s volleyball squad, especially considering the remarkable success the team achieved in every aspect.

Arizona volleyball looks at brighter days ahead

The Desert Financial Arena hosted NCAA tournament matches for the first time since 1995. The honor was given to the Sun Devils for seeing the incredible atmosphere at the venue that rallied behind JJ Van Niel’s girls at every possible opportunity (10 of the 15 home games saw 3,000 fans pouring into the stadium, while 6 of those had over 4,000 attendees).

Since Niel joined the Arizona camp as the head coach in 2022, the team has witnessed incredible success, and he also won the 2024 Big 12 Coach of The Year award. In only his second year at the helm, Arizona has already secured its second-highest ever wins in a year (the highest being 31 wins in 1982) and is looking like a force that their foes should start taking more seriously in the coming days.

In the past few weeks, the sudden shocks that have rocked the likes of Purdue, Wisconsin, and Pittsburgh have stunned the country’s volleyball fans. Under such circumstances, one would be hard-pressed to believe that Arizona is trying its best to keep the boat steady and maintain the momentum it gathered last year. While the team’s national result could arguably have been better, it remains to be seen if Ribeiro can make mountains move in her rookie NCAA season. What do you reckon will happen? Tell us in a comment!