CATS AT A GLANCE
- Arizona opens its home slate this weekend after a trio of closely-contested losses to very good teams to open the season in Hawaii. Arizona lost in four sets to Kansas State, was swept by No. 4 Wisconsin and lost a five-setter to No. 6 Hawaii. Despite losing all three matches, Arizona was only outscored 22.9-20.8 in each set.
- 2016 marks the 25th season as the head coach of the Wildcats for Dave Rubio, the conference's active leader victories as a Pac-10/12 coach (459). In 2016, the team will celebrate his quarter century of excellence, which includes a 2000 Pac-10 championship and a trip to the 2001 Final Four.
- Libero Laura Larson has had double-digit digs in her last 19 matches dating back to 2015. She is second in the Pac-12 with 47 digs this season. Arizona has led the Pac-12 in digs/set in each of the last three seasons, all three years that Larson has been on the roster.
- Penina Snuka is fifth in Arizona history with 3,887 career assists and fourth with 1,234 career digs. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her three seasons at Arizona. She has one this year, giving her 66 for her career.
- The Wildcats spend three of the first four weeks of the season on the road, marking the first time in the Pac-10/12 era (1986-current) that the Wildcats have spent three of the first four nonconference weekends away from McKale Center. It also marks the first time since 2011 that Arizona has not hosted two nonconference tournaments of its own.
THIS WEEK: The 2016 Arizona volleyball season makes its first stop at McKale Center as the Wildcats host the Wildcat Invitational for its home-opening weekend. Arizona welcomes Alabama State, Pepperdine and SMU for the two-day, six-match event at McKale Center this weekend. UA opens with a day-night doubleheader on Friday as the Cats take on Alabama State (12 p.m.) and SMU (7 p.m.) before closing with Pepperdine on Saturday (6 p.m.). The Wildcats will look to bounce back from an 0-3 start at the Wahine Invitational which included close losses to a pair of top-10 teams (No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 6 Hawaii) and a four-set loss to Kansas State.
OPPONENTS
Alabama State: The Hornets are coming off a 1-3 record at the ISTAP Collegiate in Montgomery, Alabama to open the season ... ASU defeated North Carolina A&T in the season opener before losing three straight to Maryland Eastern Shore, Towson and Tennessee State to close the event ... Ni'yesha Brown leads the team with 2.27 kills/set.
SMU: The Mustangs opened the season 2-1 at the SMU Doubletree Classic, including victories over Montana and Little Rock and a loss to UTSA ... Katie Hegarty averages 4.80 kills on .398 hitting to lead the offense ... SMU is looking to repeat as American Athletic Conference champions.
Pepperdine: The Waves opened the season 2-1 at the Pepperdine Asics Classic with five-set wins over Rhode Island and Cal State Northridge and a four-set loss to Lipscomb ... Heidi Dwyer recorded a triple-double vs. Cal State Northridge (30 assists, 14 digs, 12 kills); she averages 5.43 assists, 2.21 kills and 2.00 digs per set.
RANKINGS: Arizona is receiving votes in the AVCA Top-25.
SETTING THE TONE: All-conference setter
Penina Snuka has excelled in her three-plus seasons as the Wildcats' setter. Snuka has been an honorable mention All-American each of the last two seasons. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her three seasons at Arizona (2013 - 19, 2014 - 25, 2015 - 22) and has one in 2016. Snuka is currently fifth in Arizona history with 3,887 assists and is Arizona's top digging setter (fourth overall) with 1,234 digs.
CAN YOU DIG IT? Arizona led the conference in digs in each of the last three years, including a school-record 17.87/set in 2014 and 16.83/set in 2014.
Laura Larson has double-digit digs in each of her last 19 matches dating back to 2015.
PUTTING THE TEAM ON HER BACK: In the 33 matches that
Kalei Mau has played in since the start of 2015, she has led the team (or tied for the team lead) in kills in 30 of those matches. Mau's nine 20-plus kill matches in her last 27 played rank 10th in a career in Arizona history.
PERFECT 10: Arizona's 2016 recruiting class was ranked as the 10th best class in the country by PrepVolleyball.com. The Cats have seven freshmen, including two top-100 recruits (#60
Shardonee Hayes & #67
Julia Patterson).
A CLASS OF THEIR OWN: Arizona's senior class has won 64 games, with the opportunity to become the winningest class in over a decade in 2016. The 64 victories over the last three years are the most since winning 73 from 2000-02. Should the 2016 team win 18 games, it will make the senior class the winningest in Arizona history since the 2003 class won 90. These seniors are trying to become Arizona's first since the 2005 class capped off Arizona's run of 10 straight NCAA Tournaments.
FOLLOW THE CATS: Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Arizona volleyball team on its various social media accounts to keep up with the Cats all season long.
Twitter: @ArizonaVBall
Instagram: @ArizonaVBall
YouTube: Arizona Volleyball
UP NEXT: Arizona returns home next week to host Alabama State, SMU and Pepperdine in the Wildcat Classic in McKale Center Sept. 2-3 to open the home schedule.
