UA volleyball coach Dave Rubio said he’d have back-to-back strong signing classes, and he delivered.
This year’s current freshmen ended up the No. 7 class in the country and he followed that up with some key additions in another strong class.
This time out, Arizona added six players: Jennifer Wroblicky, Alayna Johnson, Ava Tortorello, Madison Ellman, Ava Francis and Haven Wray.
“Overall, we met our needs,” Rubio said. “A lot came down to the middle position. This class will give us depth.”
That’s what was needed after one of the best to ever play the position at UA graduates. Devyn Cross, who Rubio called an “elite-level player” was All-Pac-12 and her .381 hitting percentage last season was second in the league and 34th best in the country. Her 403 career blocks are eighth-best in UA history.
Currently, the Wildcats have only three middle blockers — junior transfer Merle Weidt, junior Zyonna Fellows and freshman China Rai Crouch — as Lauren Ware is only playing this season instead of both sports.
Wroblicky and Johnson are both middles.
The 6-foot-7 Wroblicky plays for South Torrance High School, outside of Los Angeles in Harbor City. Rubio said that Wroblicky can come in and play right away.
“She is so skilled and has great presence. She also has a great motor and works hard,” he said.
The 6-3 Johnson, is from Thomas Worthington High School, outside of Columbus in Worthington, Ohio. Rubio likes that she is an elite athlete and long physically and with a few years in UA’s program, she could be “an elite middle.”
Francis is another player from the Midwest, one of four in the class. She’s an outside hitter from Jonathan Adler High School, also outside of Columbus, in Plain City, Ohio.
“She’s like a two-way player in basketball — playing offense and defense,” Rubio said. “In volleyball, she can play defense like a libero and can play in the front row like an outside hitter. She has an elite arm. We’re drawn to her as she can hit hard. She can play high enough and hit hard enough in volleyball as an attacker.”
Tortorello, from the Latin School in Chicago, is a setter and defensive specialist. She comes from a long line of volleyball players, as her mom played at Wisconsin and coached and her aunt was an All-American at Penn State.
She’ll start out backing up Emery Herman at setter and be a libero — and in this system, that’s a tall order. However, Rubio said “she’s a terrific player and I know she can do that.”
Ellman, who will play at libero and defensive specialist, came on Rubio’s radar through former UA standout Laura Larson — one of the best liberos to play at Arizona. She plays for Chanhassen High School in Chanhassen, a suburb of Minneapolis.
“She is terrific and the most technically proficient,” Rubio said.
Wray is the lone Arizona native, coming from Peoria’s Sunrise Mountain High School. Rubio has known Wray since she was 12 years old from club and his camp.
Destined to be a Wildcat
There is another Wildcat in the Rubio household. Olivia, who plays for Catalina Foothills, has signed to play beach volleyball for Arizona. Last year Olivia, an outside hitter, had 148 kills and 213 digs.
“I’m proud she was given the opportunity to come here and play,” Rubio said of his daughter. “I coached her for three years in the 13-and-unders until she decided to focus on beach. I’d rather not coach my kids and I’m glad it worked out for her.”
Olivia is a standout in the classroom, as well. Rubio said she gets this from her mom, Amanda.
He actually was encouraging her to go to the Ivy League, however Arizona was her dream school.
More time is a blessing
Rubio has said for months that time was a good thing. While he was always talking about the virus and moving his season to the spring, he could have easily been talking about the Wildcats learning his new-ish offensive system.
Last season when he implemented the system, he knew it was difficult, as it was hard for players to break certain ingrained habits. Yet, he had senior Julia Patterson at setter — where one of the biggest adjustments takes place — and she adapted quickly.
Now, with a very young team, it is taking longer than he expected.
“It’s much more complicated than I thought it was,” Rubio said. “It ran efficiently and smoothly last year because we had an old group.
Fast forward to this year with all these new players and it’s been a challenge to learn and a challenge to execute. We are by no means close enough to being where we should be and will be when the season starts.
“I think we’re not reacting, not using our instincts and it’s not smooth. It was only last week when we moved and reacted, but it’s still not all there for them.”
Home until January
The last practice for the team was Nov. 20, and the majority of the Wildcats headed home after that. They will return in January to get ready for the season.
Weidt and Dilara Gedikoglu are staying in town. Weidt, a transfer from Rutgers, is from Germany, while Gedikoglu, a Tulsa transfer, is from Turkey. The Wildcats were worried that they wouldn’t be allowed back into the country if they left. Weidt, who arrived on campus for the second semester last year, has not been home during the pandemic.
One open roster spot
Freshman Shelby O’Neal was originally recruited to play both indoor and beach volleyball. She has opted to play only beach during her stay at Arizona, starting this spring.
