Matt Dyck is in his second season as an assistant coach with the Arizona Wildcats.
In reality, heβs been a part of coach Dave Rubioβs team for much longer than that.
βIβve known Dave since before I was born,β Dyck said. βMy father and Dave are really close. I spent my first (years) here back when we went to the Final Four and my sister set here and my father was actually Daveβs volunteer assistant a few years ago.β
Rubio described Dyckβs father, Jack Dyck, as a mentor of his and noted that the two βhave been close friends for a long time.β The two attended the same junior high, high school and college.
Following the departure of former assistant coach Gregg Whitis in 2020, Rubio turned to the family he knew best.
Matt Dyck was certainly qualified. He was a team manager under Rubio from 2001-05 and coached the UA menβs volleyball club team from 2008-10 before coaching stints at Central Arizona College (2011-2014) and Eastern Washington (2015-16).
βThe overriding factor was being able to hire someone that I knew what their personality was going to be inside the gym and what they were going to bring in terms of being a trainer,β Rubio said in July 2020 after hiring Dyck.
Dyckβs first season as an assistant coach didnβt quite go as planned. The Wildcats had their 2020 season pushed into January 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the Wildcats fielded one of the youngest teams in the Pac-12.
By comparison, this fallβs season feels familiar. Dyck says Rubio and associate head coach Charita Stubbs have been the reason why heβs enjoyed his time in Tucson so far.
βI really enjoyed working for Dave,β Dyck said. βI donβt think anybody works harder or puts in more hours than Dave does. Itβs honestly not even close. And Iβve known (Stubbs) my whole life and I love working with (Stubbs).β
The players have also made Dyckβs job much easier. Arizona (14-9, 6-6) will hit the road this weekend, facing No. 21-ranked Washington State on Friday and No. 12 Washington on Sunday.
βWe donβt have one bad kid on our team,β Dyck said. βWhen weβre in the airport, we always joke around and have a good time. When weβre eating meals, we have a good time and weβre watching film, we have a good time.
βHaving a group of kids that are like-minded and hardworking and want to be great makes that way easier. Iβve been on plenty of teams where you have one or two kids that arenβt fun to be around and that can spoil the normal season experience. Itβs been nice having a group of girls that are really fun to work with.β
UAβs Stubbe earns award
Outside hitter Puk Stubbe was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week following her impressive weekend against No. 15 Stanford and Cal.
On Sunday, Stubbe recorded a career-high 17 kills against Cal with a hitting percentage of .517 while also adding 10 digs. The performance came two days after she finished as the Wildcatsβ second-leading scorer with 12 kills in a sweep of Stanford.
βI think sheβs getting a bigger approach,β Dyck said. βSheβs working hard on that in practice which has helped her to build more speed and hit the ball a little bit harder. One of Pukβs best attributes is having great vision so I think sheβs just getting used to the tempo set we give her and I think sheβs using her vision to pick the right line and sheβs done a good job executing that.β
Rubio knew that Stubbe needed time to transition to indoor volleyball after years of playing on the beach. Stubbe is now third on the team in total kills with 211, averaging 11.3 kills a match since the start of Pac-12 play.
βSheβs right in the middle, right in the top third of hitters in attack percentage, error percentage and kill percentage,β Rubio said. βAll those things for her, for a young player as her first year in the league, is encouraging.β
Tournament hopes are alive and well
Arizona began conference play 3-0. The Wildcats then lost five straight matches.
An NCAA Tournament berth was looking bleak, but the Wildcats have now won three of their last four matches and hold a record of 6-6 in conference play after a rΓ©sumΓ©-boosting win over No. 15 Stanford.
βIt certainly keeps our playoff hopes in a much better place,β Dyck said. βAnytime you can beat Stanford, itβs always awesome. From an RPI perspective, it certainly helps us quite a bit.β
Arizona has just eight regular-season matches remaining. The Wildcats are 2-5 this season against their remaining opponents, along with a match at Oregon, who they havenβt played yet.
βNow being 6-6 in conference play, it certainly gives us a much better chance coming down the last four weeks,β Dyck said.
