The Arizona Wildcats have been a consistent presence in volleyball’s upper echelon for most of coach Dave Rubio’s 26 years in Tucson.
This year is expected to be no different.
So it probably came as a shock to followers of the program when the Wildcats dropped their second match of the season to Lipscomb, a school few people out west could locate on a map.
Arizona began the year with a marathon trip to Nashville, Tennessee – home of Lipscomb – where the UA played three matches in 48 hours. The Wildcats cruised to victories over East Tennessee State and Middle Tennessee, but fell 3-1 to a Lipscomb team loaded with experience.
Arizona, with 13 underclassmen, fell victim to what Rubio called. “young errors.” Lipscomb’s experience trumped Arizona’s talent.
“You see a team like Villanova win the national championship in basketball and a lot of them are four-year players versus the one-and-dones,” Rubio said. “Those guys just kind of handle themselves, make better decisions and are a little more mature.”
The Wildcats return home this weekend with an opportunity to gain some valuable reps as they host the Cactus Classic. Arizona faces Eastern Kentucky and Grand Canyon on Friday before finishing the tournament against Radford on Saturday.
Arizona will spend most the early season navigating a new normal. All-America setter Penina Snuka is gone, along with libero Laura Larson and outside hitter Kalei Mau.
Sophomore Julia Patterson, a 5-foot-11-inch native Californian, has stepped into Snuka’s place. Patterson was one of two Wildcats to play all 11 sets of the opening weekend, recording 31 digs and supplying 84 percent of the team’s assists.
“Julia was fantastic,” Rubio said. “Compared to Penina, which is the standard for us, her numbers were right next to hers.”
Freshman outside hitter Paige Whipple and libero Kimberly Gutierrez, a senior transfer from USF, also stood out in the first weekend.
The 6-1 Whipple finished with 20 kills, which puts her second on the team behind junior Kendra Dahlke, the team’s go-to offensive threat.
Gutierrez, who had a prolific career at USF before transferring, led the team with 34 digs.
“(Whipple) and Gutierrez are the two reasons why we’re even competitive in a match like Lipscomb,” Rubio said.
Arizona faces three favorable matchups this coming weekend, which could go a long way in boosting the confidence of the young team.
For now, Rubio is satisfied with the team’s progress.
“We know that we’re going to be a great team,” Rubio said. “The question is when is that going to happen? It may not happen for awhile, but there’s too much talent here for this to not eventually turn around and gel into a top-10 type of team.”
