TUCSON, Ariz.—The Arizona Beach Volleyball team is headed to Seattle, where they will face three top-10 beach volleyball programs at the Pac-12 North Invitational. The Wildcats are currently the No. 18 team in the country.
 
Arizona will play California and Oregon on Friday, April 5 and Stanford and UCLA on Saturday, April 6.
 
Pac-12 North Invitational Match Ups
 
California- The Wildcats have a winning record (7-5) against the Bears. The two teams last faced each other in March 2023 and the meeting resulted in a 5-0 Cal victory. The Bears are currently ranked No. 7 nationally.
 
Oregon- Arizona is 6-1 against Oregon and has a three-match win streak against the Ducks, defeating them three times in the 2023 season.
 
Stanford- The Wildcats and the Cardinal have historically been evenly matched, with Arizona earning a 6-5 advantage over Stanford. When the teams last met in the 2023 season, the Wildcats emerged with a 3-2 victory. Stanford is ranked No. 2 nationally.
 
UCLA- Arizona is 2-11 in their matchups against USC. USC is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation.

 
Pac-12 North Invitational full match schedule:
 
Friday, April 5:
 
MATCH 1- Arizona vs. Cal; Arizona State vs. USC (9:00 a.m. MST)
MATCH 2- USC vs. Stanford; Cal vs. UCLA (11:00 a.m.)
MATCH 3- Arizona vs. Oregon; Washington vs. Arizona State (1:00 p.m.)
MATCH 4-UCLA vs. Utah (3:00 p.m.)
MATCH 5-Oregon vs. Utah (5:00 p.m.)
 
Saturday, April 6:
 
MATCH 1- Utah vs. Stanford; Cal vs. USC (9:00 a.m.)
MATCH 2- Arizona vs. Stanford; ASU vs. Utah (11:00 a.m.)
MATCH 3- ASU vs. Oregon; Washington vs. Cal (1:00 p.m.)
MATCH 4- Arizona vs. UCLA (3:00 p.m.)
MATCH 5-Washington vs. Oregon (4:00 p.m.)
 
 Fans can follow along with live stats for each of the tournament's matches.

 NOTING THE WILDCATS
 
Steve Walker is in his 11^th season as the head coach for the Wildcats. Walker has a career record of 195-86 (.694) at Arizona. Named the 2016 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year, Walker led Arizona to the first NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in 2016.

Abby Russell has a career record of 56-34 (.622) as a Sand Cat. This season, Russell and partner Olivia McElroy are 14-5 (.737), with 7 wins at both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
In her first season at Arizona, freshman Olivia McElroy has built up a 14-5 record with Russell. Prior to joining the Wildcat squad, McElroy was named as an Honorable Mention AVCA Junior Beach All-American in 2023.

5^th year Hope Shannon is 63-35 (.643) as a Wildcat. Shannon continues to move up in the rankings for Arizona Beach Volleyball win leaders and is now at the No. 9 spot. This season, Shannon is 9-0 with partner Annie Kost and 4-6 with partner Grace Cook.

Kost has a career record of 42-20 (.677) at Arizona, and this season has the best individual record on the Wildcat roster of 16-3 (.842), playing with two different partners at positions 2 and 3.  
5^th year Grace Cook is 31-20 in her time as a Wildcat. This season, Cook has a record of 10-9 (.526) and has played at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.

Junior Kylee Fitzsimmons is 22-9 (.710) in her career as a Wildcat. This season, Fitzsimmons has a 7-3 record with partner Annie Kost at No. 3 and a 6-3 record with partner Grace Cook at No. 2/3.
Senior Miranda Erro has a career record of 30-18 (.625) at Arizona. This season, Erro and partner Ashlyn Zilliken are 11-6 (.647) at the No. 5 position.

In her first season as a Wildcat, freshman Ashlyn Zilliken has a 12-6 record (.667). Prior to her time at Arizona, Zilliken made her mark in the world of beach volleyball by earning AVCA 2023 Beach Junior Honorable Mention All-American honors.

Two more freshman had made a significant impact as a pair on the starting lineup for the Sand Cats: freshmen Jess Horwath and Kate Phillips have a record of 14-4 (.778) at the No. 4 position this season.  

 
LOOKING AHEAD

The Wildcats will travel to Idaho April 10 to compete in the Boise State Tri-Duel, facing Saint Mary's and Boise State. Then, two days later, Arizona will play Stanford and Pacific at the Stanford Invitational.