Saturday’s annual Blue-Red scrimmage for the Arizona volleyball team marked the end of preseason training camp and a chance for fans to see something new.
There are four new faces on the roster — Kamaile Hiapo, Erin Williamson, Simone Overbeck and Tucsonan Mackay Sennyey — who will make an impact on the program.
Yet, there is something even bigger that UA coach Dave Rubio, who is entering season No. 28 as head coach at Arizona, has up his sleeve for this season:
A new offensive scheme.
Change is never easy — even if the new system fits the specific skillsets of the players on this team. And it is still a work in progress. However on Saturday, the Wildcats ran it the best they have all offseason.
“Actually, it’s way more complicated ... It’s a real departure from what we have been doing,” Rubio said. “So, it’s going to take us a little while to just get comfortable with that. I think in the long run it’s going to be great for us. I think it really helps us with our personnel in terms of where our strength lies. But it’s going to take us some time.”
Without giving away too much about his new scheme, Rubio shared that it’s all about getting his middles — senior Devyn Cross and redshirt junior Shardonee Hayes — more involved.
Last season Cross was the UA’s first middle blocker to earn All-America honors since 1985. She was AVCA All-America, all-Pac-12 and AVCA all-Pacific South Region honorable mention.
Hayes was Pac-12 all-academic honorable mention. She had 78 total blocks. The only Wildcat with more was Cross with 111.
“What it does is that it allows us to set the middle a little bit more,” Rubio said. “So that’s the key. We have terrific middles and it takes the pressure off the outside hitters of carrying the offense. ... With Devyn and Shardonee — both, as good as they are, and as experienced and physical as they are — it allows us to set them more.”
The Wildcats are coming off a 22-11 season, in which they went 11-9 in the Pac-12. They made it back to the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round. During the season, five players sat out due to concussions over five straight weeks.
In the preseason poll, Arizona was picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12.
Senior setter Julia Patterson shared another wrinkle in the scheme: “We did a lot of tempo stuff — making sure that our offense is running at a fast pace.”
Rubio’s questions
The season kicks off Friday as the Wildcats host the Cactus Classic. They face Appalachian State at 10 a.m. and Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m., and then wrap up with Samford on Saturday at noon.
Typical for any coach, Rubio still has questions about his squad.
“Trying to find another player who can play opposite Paige (Whipple at outside hitter) and who can handle the same responsibility that she carries. It takes the pressure off of her,” he said. “The bigs have to be able to play and when I say bigs I mean the outside hitters.”
Three players are battling for playing time at libero.
“The libero position right now is really, really competitive with Makenna Martin, Emi Pua’a, and Kamaile Hiapo — those three are just fighting it out every day and I’m trying to get a feel of where the hierarchy is going to be and where the depth chart is going to be,” Rubio said.
European vacation
This summer, the Wildcats took a European trip, playing five teams in 10 days. They visited Prague, Vienna; Maribor, Slovenia; and Venice, Italy. UA faced the Czech Republic junior national team, the Czech Republic world university team, the Slovenia national team and Italy’s national B and junior national teams.
For Cross it was an opportunity to travel overseas for the first time and to see how serious they take their volleyball there.
“Playing against the European teams and just that level of play was probably one of the most exciting things and most humbling experiences,” said Cross. “Because we got to see how common volleyball is and just how different the little nuances are in other countries. ... I think when we were overseas the excitement we had has really transferred over here. Us wanting to play and being really excited to practice. It gave us a confidence boost.”
Patterson added that the team has grown closer.
“I think we gained a lot of chemistry with each other and really got to know each other a lot better, which is a huge factor on the court,” she said. “The incoming freshman, like Kamaile got to experience a lot more college level before playing in a (season) match.”
One last trip
Last week Rubio took his team on a short trip — to the other side of Tucson — to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. They watched the F-16s take off, did test runs on the engine, and sat in the simulators — getting a chance to feel like they were actually in the F-16s and flying around Tucson.
“Anytime you cross over the base and it’s about defending your country. I mean it’s a whole different mindset over there,” said Rubio. “It becomes really real. I think anytime you can provide them an opportunity to see the world from a different way it’s good.”
A return visit
Before the Red-Blue scrimmage started, former UA student-athlete Kendra Dahlke walked onto the court and gave Rubio a big hug. Then, she turned and started stretching with a resistance band and took her place in line with her team as they went through warm ups — practicing digs and spikes. And then she took her spot on one side of the net — ready to play with her former teammates.
“It was a lot of fun to play with them and be around their energy,” Dahlke said. “It was fun getting back in the gym with them and seeing how far they’ve progressed. It’s been a while since I’ve played with them.”
Dahlke graduated last December and headed to the Philippines in February for her first foray as a professional volleyball player. And her team, PLDT in the SuperLiga, had its best season.
“We finished third and got a bronze medal, which was pretty cool,” she said. “The previous year they got sixth and year before that they were winless. Each year they have gotten better. ... I really enjoyed it a lot.”
Since May she has been training in San Diego at Coast Volleyball Club. PLDT liked having Dahlke on the team so much, she has already been invited back to play next season. She can’t commit just yet, however.
Last week Dahlke signed with Italy’s Marsala Volley and the season runs from mid-September to March or April — depending on the postseason.
“We’ll see how it goes — how the season goes and if we go far in the playoffs — if I can go back to the Philippines,” she said. “That’s up in the air for now. I’d love to go back.”
