THE GAMES (Times MST)
1 | Saturday, Aug. 26 |
3,
1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20) |
Recap |
Box Score
2 | Saturday, Aug. 26 |
3,
1 (25-13, 31-29, 20-25, 22-25) |
Recap |
Box Score
3 | Sunday, Aug. 27 (10 a.m.) |
vs.
| Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena) |
Live Stats |
Twitter Updates
WEEKLY NOTES
ARIZONA OPENS SEASON AT LUV INVITATIONAL
Twenty-fourth-ranked Arizona volleyball is set to begin its 2017 campaign in Nashville, Tennessee for the LUV Invitational, hosted by Lipscomb. The Wildcats open the season against the East Tennessee State Bucs on Saturday at 8 a.m. before taking on the host Bisons at 5:30 p.m. MST. UA wraps up its opening weekend on Sunday against Middle Tennessee. The Cats and Blue Raiders will face off at 10 a.m. MST.
SERIES HISTORY
- This will be the first meeting between Arizona and East Tennessee State.
- Arizona is 2-0 all-time against Lipscomb. The Wildcats won the first-ever meeting against Lipscomb in Malibu, California on Aug. 31, 2007 (30-27, 30-20, 23-30, 30-24) and most recently in the 2012 Wildcat Classic (25-14, 25-17, 25-23).
- Arizona defeated Middle Tennessee in the programs' sole previous meeting in 1998. The Cats swept the Blue Raiders (15-8, 15-8, 15-10) on Sept. 4, 1998 in Boulder, Colorado.
COACHES
- Arizona head coach Dave Rubio is in his 26th season at Arizona. Rubio is 479-291 at UA.
- East Tennessee State head coach Lindsey Devine is in her 15th season at ETSU. Devine has a career record of 245-199.
- Lipscomb is coached by Brandon Rosenthal, who is 264-169 in 14 previous seasons with the Bisons.
- Chuck Crawford enters his first season as the head coach of Middle Tennessee.
CATS AT A GLANCE
- Arizona was ranked 24th in AVCA's Preseason Top 25 and selected eighth in the preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll.
- The Wildcats return four of their top six scorers from a 20-15 season in 2016, including junior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke (3.97 kills/set, 2.22 digs/set, 0.46 blocks/set), junior outside hitter Tyler Spriggs (1.64 kills/set, 0.27 blocks/set), senior middle blocker McKenzie Jacobson (1.58 kills/set, .293 hit%, 0.68 blocks/set) and sophomore middle blocker Devyn Cross (1.28 blocks/set, .275 hit%, 0.88 blocks/set).
- Arizona welcomes in its third straight top-15 recruiting class (PrepVolleyball.com). Candice Denny (MB | San Jose, Calif.), Katie Smoot (OH | Belmont, Calif.), Paige Whipple (OH | Salem, Ore.), Gabriella Halcovich (DS | Palm Desert, Calif.), Jaclyn Inclan (DS | Tucson, Ariz.) and Kelly O'Neil (DS | Louisville, Ky.) make up the No. 11 recruiting class in the country. UA's 2016 class was ranked 10th and its 2015 haul was named 14th.
- In 2016, Arizona advanced to its eighth Sweet 16 in program history, defeating national No. 9 seed Michigan State in East Lansing along the way. It marked UA's first Sweet 16 run since 2005.
- The Wildcats have been selected for four straight NCAA Tournaments, their longest run since advancing to 10 straight from 1996-2005. Over the last four seasons, UA has averaged 21 victories. Last year's 20-15 squad marked Dave Rubio's 13th 20-win season in his 25 years.
- UA will look to replace a pair of All-Americans, setter Penina Snuka and outside hitter Kalei Mau as well as its libero, Laura Larson. Snuka and Mau were Arizona's ninth and 10th All-Americans in program history.
OPPONENTS
East Tennessee State Bucs (0-0)
- ETSU is coming off a 22-8 season and SoCon regular season title (13-3) in 2016.
- The Bucs return four of their top five scorers from a season ago, including A.J. Lux, who averaged 3.04 kills on .332 hitting
Lipscomb Bisons (0-0)
- Lipscomb is coming off a 22-8 (12-2 ASUN). The Bisons won the ASUN regular season and tournament championship to qualify for their third straight NCAA Tournament.
- Outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum was named ASUN Preseason Player of the Year. She ranked top-30 nationally in both kills (491) and kills/set (4.50) in 2016.
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (0-0)
- Middle Tennesse is coming off a 5-24 (2-12 C-USA) season in 2016.
- The Blue Raiders return a trio of starters from last season including leading scorer Regan Coughlin (2.44 kills/set).
RANKINGS
- Arizona is ranked 24th in AVCA's Preseason Top 25.
- This marks Arizona's 314th week in the AVCA Top 25, dating back to 1982. That's 10th-most among all schools in Division I.
- The Wildcats are one of six teams in the AVCA Top 25, joining No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Washington, No. 13 UCLA, No. 18 Oregon and No. 23 Utah. USC and Washington State are receiving votes.
- UA has eight matches scheduled against teams currently ranked in the Top 25.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
- Arizona has finished top three in the conference in each of the last four season in digs per set. UA led the Pac-12 from 2013-15 and finished third in 2016 (15.67 digs/set).
- However, four of the six players that averaged more than a dig per set last season graduated, including libero Laura Larson and setter Penina Snuka, two of the top five diggers in UA history.
DAHLKE LOOKS TO BUILD ON STELLAR SOPHOMORE SEASON
- Kendra Dahlke had a breakout campaign in 2016, averaging 3.95 kills and 4.35 points per set. Those figures ranked fourth and sixth in the Pac-12. Those figures were up from 1.57 kills and 1.72 points per set as a freshman in 2015.
- With the graduation of Kalei Mau, who finished first or second in the Pac-12 in kills/set in each of the last two seasons, Dahlke figures to get more opportunities in 2017.
- Dahlke will be one of just four returning upperclassmen and will be looked on to help replace the leadership lost from the graduation of five seniors in 2016.
RUBIO AND STAFF RECRUITING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
WILD KITTENS
- Arizona has eight freshmen, five sophomores, three junior and just three seniors. Arizona's 13 underclassmen are the most in the Pac-12.
- Through graduation/transfer, Arizona lost six players who combined for 737 total sets played in 2016. The nine returners combined for 550 sets last season and 946 for their entire careers.
ONE LAST GO-AROUND FOR MACK
- Middle blocker McKenzie Jacobson is set for her redshirt senior season. Jacobson, along with transfer Kimberly Gutierrez, are the lone two seniors on the squad.
- Jacobson led the team in hitting percentage last season (.293) and averaged more than two points per set (2.01) for the second straight year.
UP NEXT
- Arizona will host the Cactus Classic (Sept. 1 and 2) to open its home schedule next weekend.
- UA welcomes in Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 1; 12:30 p.m.), Grand Canyon (Sept. 1; 7 p.m.) and Radford (Sept. 2; 1 p.m.).
