Draft Prospect Profile: S Argentina Ung
Ung is a well-seasoned setter who is poised to take the next step with the Sun Devils.
When setter Argentina Ung entered the transfer portal following the conclusion of last year’s season, it was a bittersweet moment for her. Washington State had been her home for four years and the team was quite good in 2023. However, with the PAC-12 crumbling and the Cougars’ coaching staff leaving for greener pastures, the choice was clear — it was time to go. Leaving WSU for her final season may not have been what she had dreamed of, but it’s hard to imagine a more perfect match for Ung than what she’ll be getting in Arizona State.
For one thing, Ung will be much closer to home. She grew up in Sonora, Mexico, and the five hour drive from the ASU campus to see her family is much more achievable than a quick trip from across the continent.
She’s set up to thrive from a volleyball perspective as well. Ung was an admirer of the Sun Devils from afar last season. She was impressed by their powerhouse of a team and praised on their performance in the Sweet 16. Early returns have been very good and the opportunity to work with head coach JJ Van Niel excites her.
“He literally doesn't sleep,” she quipped. “He eats, breathes, sleeps volleyball. Everything he does, even when he's at home, he just does it for us. So I try to give back to him in practices, workouts. Every practice is so fun to go because, you know, he's going to push you every time. I really love that part about JJ.”
As for the coach, he was enthused at the opportunity to scoop up such a talented setter from the portal after the graduation of Shannon Shields following the 2023 season. Van Niel described pursuing a partnership with Ung as a “no-brainer.”
“Good setters are good setters,” he said with a shrug. “I thought she did a really, really nice job at Washington State. It was Sweet 16 last year, but she was their starting setter for a couple of years and they were doing some cool stuff down there and had a really high level offense.”
The opportunity that presents itself during the upcoming season is for Ung to prove herself as a capable piece in an uptempo offense. For many players coming out of the college ranks, the speed of the pro game will be the biggest challenge to overcome. At ASU, though, Ung will be operating the quickest playbook of her career.
“Definitely here is the fastest offense I've run. Even at Washington State, we didn't run as fast of an offense,” she explained. “Since the sets are so fast right now, the hitter’s got to be almost in the air when I touch the ball. So if the timing's off, the whole set is just bad. Literally, you got to put the ball right there in their hand because the offense is just too fast.”
The usually stoic Van Niel couldn’t help but be amused by that interaction when I recounted it to him.
“I think initially probably was like a little quick, but she’s had no issue,” he said through laughter. “She was a little rusty when she first got here because, you know, you're done with the tournament, you go home, don't play volleyball for a while, but we had a trip in Brazil and I thought she really executed really nicely there and she has no issue running the speed that we're running.”
He went on to add that Ung has the height advantage to run his demanding offensive system. At six feet tall, she has no problem reaching and controlling the ball at a higher point. Thus, her sets are mid-flight by the time a smaller setter might be making contact with a pass. Relatedly, being on the taller side also makes Ung a capable help-side blocker, which is notoriously a weak point among many setters.
There was no mincing of words when I asked Ung about her plans for the future. She wants to keep playing stateside and has keyed in to the PVF as her destination. “I really want to play the PVF. That's one of my plans. Like, I really want to play that league,” she said.
However, a team considering whether to draft Ung will have to weigh whether they’re willing to dedicate one of their two roster spots for foreign-born players to her. She’s a competent setter who will get the chance to showcase her skills in an uptempo offense with the Sun Devils; her skills aren’t the problem. It’s a question of whether a team would rather have her or player who has proven herself in an overseas professional league.
“I think I got a lot of international experience,” said Ung, who has been rostered on the Mexican national team. “I mean, I made it to the tournament to a lot of times. I feel like I just keep getting better every year, to be honest, year after year, just feeling more confident in my setting.”
Another factor that may come into play is Ung’s build. She’s tall enough to be more effective than the typical college setter at the net but she’s also slender and somewhat lanky. PVF rookies undertake a massive single-season workload as they go directly from college to pro ball with little to no break. A team who is otherwise interested in Ung could be concerned about whether her body would hold up to that kind of physical demand.
Teams will also be evaluating her viability as a server, which Ung openly identified as a weak point in her own game. She said that she and the Arizona State coaching staff have dedicated considerable time to reshaping her serve, as effective serving is a non-negotiable element of how Coach Van Niel wants to play. Ung related that serving drills have helped her up her accuracy and quality of contact from the line.
On the intangible side of things, though, the Sun Devils’ boss did not hesitate to praise his setter in clear and definite terms.
“We were interested in her and I know some people that used to play with her and, you know, being able to communicate with those people, you get just really good reviews. I already knew that she had skill on the court, but I heard amazing things about her off the court and as a teammate,” said the coach. “I think she's come in and immediately just been kind of a leader. Whether someone’s officially on a leadership group or whatever, it's kind of irrelevant. It's like, ‘What's their presence in the court? You know, how are they able to hold teammates accountable in like a positive way?’ And she's done that.”
“She does a really good job of, in a positive way, making sure people are on assignment and when people are off, she's helping guide them to where they need to be. And, you know, she kind of came in right away and wasn't hesitant. She just melded with the team really, really well,” he continued.
“I love just playing with my teammates, just giving them that confidence that they just get that they can get better. I love that part of the game,” added Ung.
In a rare moment of vulnerability, Coach Van Niel quietly expressed his gratitude to have Ung at Arizona State for her final season.
“She's been an absolute rockstar. It's just so fun. I wish I was better with communication because she's, she's really done a wonderful job just integrating herself into our team, um, in a confident and positive manner. She's an absolute joy to be around. I'm… I feel so fortunate that she's on our team,” he said.
Some quotes have been lightly altered for clarity. To watch a full Arizona State game, click here. To watch a full Washington State game, click here.