ARIZONA 3, ARIZONA STATE 1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18)
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ARIZONA (9-4) at #16 COLORADO (8-3)
Sunday, September 25 | 12 p.m. MST
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CATS AT A GLANCE

• Arizona has won eight of its last nine matches, dropping just five total sets in the month of September, as the schedule turns to league play.
• A couple of streaks are on the line this week as the Cats are set to face Arizona State in McKale and Colorado in Boulder. Arizona has won the last eight meetings with the Sun Devils in Tucson; the Wildcats are 17-7 at home against ASU under head coach Dave Rubio. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have lost four straight matches to Colorado and are 0-3 in their last three trips to the Coors Events Center.
• All four of Arizona's losses this season have come to teams currently ranked in the AVCA Top 25. Over the last three years, Arizona is 45-7 (.865) vs. unranked competition and 6-21 (.222) vs. ranked teams. Four of Arizona's seven losses to unranked teams have come to Colorado.
• Arizona's opponents (future and past matches) have a combined record of 171-80 (.681), making the Wildcats' schedule the 13th hardest in the country.
• Earlier this season, Penina Snuka became the fifth player in school history to surpass the 4,000 career assist plateau, and has since moved into third in Wildcat history with 4,170. Now, Snuka will turn her sites on the 5,000-assist club, where on only one other Wildcat resides: Dana Burkholder (5,424 career assists).
• Kendra Dahlke is enjoying a breakout campaign in her sophomore year. After averaging 1.57 kills/set as a freshman with four double-digit kill matches, Dahlke leads the Wildcats with 4.10 kills/set and has had 10-or-more kills in 10 of Arizona's 12 matches. Dahkle is third in the Pac-12 in kills.
• 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 (464). 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.
• After finishing second-to-last in the Pac-12 in aces/set a year ago (0.85/set), the Wildcats lead the conference in aces four weeks into 2016 (1.66/set). Penina Snuka, who had never averaged more than 0.2 aces/set in her career, leads the league, averaging 0.54 aces/set.
• Penina Snuka is third in Arizona history with 4,170 career assists and third with 1,324 career digs. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her previous three seasons at Arizona. She has six this year, giving her 72 for her career.

 
THIS WEEK: After spending three of the first four weeks of 2016 on the road, Arizona (8-4) returns home for its first Pac-12 match of the season, a matchup with rival Arizona State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MST. Though ASU's 7-5 record is the worst nonconference mark in the league, the Cats can expect a fight from the resilient bunch up north, which is 4-0 in five-set matches this year, and are experienced on the road (no home matches yet this year). Following the rivalry matchup in McKale, UA heads to Boulder to take on 16th-ranked Colorado on Sunday at noon, where UA will attempt to lay to rest some of its demons. Arizona is 0-4 in its last four meetings against Colorado, 0-3 in its last three trips to Boulder and 0-4 in its last four matches vs. ranked opponents. Both matches will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
OPPONENTS
Arizona State: The Sun Devils (7-5) come to Tucson after a 1-2 weekend at the Boise State Classic to close out nonconference play with a victory over No. 17 Santa Clara, their only match vs. a ranked opponent this year, and losses to Portland State and Boise State ... ASU has struggles on both sides of the ball; its .214 hitting percentage is last in the Pac-12 while its opponents hit .218, also last in the conference ... ASU comes to Tucson in search of its first win in McKale Center since 2007 ... Oluoma Okaro (2.98 kills/set, .325 hitting, 1.15 blocks/set) is a handful in the middle for the Sun Devils.
 
Colorado: The 16th-ranked Buffaloes (8-2) ride a four-match winning streak into the week, including a 3-0 showing in the Omni Invitational in Boulder last weekend with victories over Chicago State, New Orleans and Colorado State ... Colorado already owns a pair of top-20 victories (#13 Penn State and #17 Illinois) ... The Buffs hit .301, the second best mark in the Pac-12 ... Three players - Nahede Abu (1.49), Joslyn Hayes (1.28) and Katelyn Cuff (1.23) - average more than 1.2 blocks per set; Colorado is third in the league in blocks.
 
RANKINGS: Arizona is not ranked in this week's 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 six in 2016, second in the conference. Snuka is currently third in Arizona history with 4,170 assists and is Arizona's top digging setter (third overall) with 1,324 digs.
 
CAN YOU DIG IT? After leading the conference in digs each of the last three years, Arizona is seventh this year, averaging 14.46 digs/set. Laura Larson is eighth in the league, averaging 3.61 digs/set. The senior had a 25-match streak with double-digit digs that came to an end last week.
 
WHAT SOPHOMORE SLUMP? After averaging 1.57 kills/set as a part-time player in 2015, Kendra Dahlke has burst onto the scene in a big way as a sophomore. Through 12 matches, Dahlke leads Arizona with 4.10 kills/set and has had double-digit kills in 10 of Arizona's 12 matches. In 2015, she had four total double-digit kill efforts. Dahlke is third in the Pac-12 in both kills/set (4.10) and points/set (4.68).
 
PUTTING THE TEAM ON HER BACK: In the 39 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 31 of those matches. Mau's nine 20-plus kill matches in that span 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 72 matches, with the opportunity to become the winningest class in over a decade in 2016. 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 to make four NCAA Tournament appearances 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: The Wildcats welcome Oregon State (Sept. 30) and Oregon (Oct. 1) to McKale as Pac-12 play continues.