Merle Weidtβs time at Arizona has been one big adventure.
When the pandemic shut down travel overseas last summer, Weidt β a native of Offenburg, Germany who transferred to the UA from Rutgers β hit the road.
She bought a Nissan Xterra, and it became her home. She slept in the SUV so she wouldnβt come in contact with others while COVID-19 cases were spiking.
Weidt drove around the Western United States with no route mapped out. She spent much of her time in the mountains. Her favorites were the Grand Tetons, the Sierra Nevada Mountains with Mammoth Lakes and the Pacific Crest Trail. Along the way, other travelers shared tips.
βJust talking to people, you get a lot of really cool insider tips, which bring you the best place to sleep, the best place to go to and you have to be a little spontaneous and donβt have a completely, like, fixed route,β she said.
Weidtβs approach: βLetβs use this time because Iβm never ever going to get the chance again to have four months in a country that I can just go and travel.β
Weidt will tackle another locale this weekend, when the Wildcats (4-6) head to Los Angeles to play twice against No. 15 UCLA (7-3). Arizona is coming off a weekend sweep of Oregon State at home.
Coach Dave Rubio has been impressed with Weidtβs maturity and willingness to be a good teammate. The junior middle blocker has four kills this season coming off the bench; three came in Sundayβs 25-17, 25-21, 25-27, 25-14 win over the Beavers.
βIf you spend any time with Merle, youβll feel like youβre speaking to a 30-year-old person,β Rubio said. ββ¦ Her approach to life in general is just about experiences β and certainly, Iβm sure she was disappointed that she wasnβt starting. But you never would know that by her actions in practice or how she behaved on the sidelines. I would talk to her about it. And she was like, βDave, look, Iβm here to get better. Iβm here to get a good education. Iβm here to enjoy my experience at University of Arizona. And wherever that takes me, it takes me.ββ
Weidt is one of a handful of international players on this teamβs roster. Sofia Maldonado is from Guadalajara, Mexico, and Dilara Gedikoglu grew up in Alanya, Turkey.
Rubio said all three bring something valuable to the team.
βHow they approach their day-to-day training is different as well,β he said. βTheyβre just very good people that want to do well, are focused on their academics. β¦ Theyβve been a good influence on the group,β Rubio said.
Because of the pandemic, both Weidt and Gedikoglu have been away from their families for a long time. Both have experienced the time away from home before: Growing up, they lived away from home for school and volleyball. Theyβve used FaceTime to stay connected, but say itβs still been hard.
βIβm definitely getting to a point where Iβm like, Yeah, I really want to go home and see my parents, see my grandparents,β Weidt said. βBut I think what helps me is really focusing on the moment and focusing whatβs ahead of me. And that I have a really cool chance to be here in Arizona and make the best out of it and then be really happy when I have the chance to go back home.β
Weidt and Gedikoglu are also connected as transfers. Weidt played two seasons at Rutgers. Gedikoglu played her freshman year at Tulsa.
While Rubio found both in the transfer portal, he got an assist from former UA standout Cursty Jackson. Jackson had played professionally in Turkey and knew Gedikoglu.
βCursty contacted me asking if we had an interest and we certainly did. We needed someone who could really serve-receive and play back row and be offensive enough to play in our conference. We thought that Dilara would fit that bill,β Rubio said.
βMerle was a little bit different. We needed a middle to give us some depth in that position and I liked what I saw from her on film. We brought her out from Rutgers, and she played at a high level with Rutgers being a part of the Big Ten. It was important for us to bring a player whoβs used to competing at a high level. Itβs been a home run for us recruiting both of those players.β
Notable
- Rubio calls UCLA βan offensive juggernaut,β and said the Wildcats will have to match their firepower to compete.
βWeβre have to really be offensive-minded,β he said. βIn order to be able to do that, serve-receive has got to be crisp, got to be accurate and precise. (Setter) Emery (Herman) has got to put the ball in the right location and make good decisions. Itβs going to be those two things, I think, that will play the biggest part in our ability to be successful this coming weekend.β
- Maldonado Diaz picked up her second Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors for her performance in last weekendβs match. The freshman outside hitter averaged 5.71 kills/set on .307 hitting against the Beavers.
βFor someone to be playing at the level that Sofia is playing at and has demonstrated from week to week, is really unusual, and maybe very few freshmen as an attacker have ever shown the ability to do what sheβs been doing at the at the level that sheβs done it,β Rubio said. βIβve had setters, I think Dana Burkholder certainly would fall in the category is someone who could step in as a freshman in that position and play at that level. Outside hitting is so much more difficult in some senses, especially with Sofiaβs background of not ever being a back row player and hitting out of the back row. The tempo of the set is different in the middle than it is on the outside. Her ability to make those adjustments has been pretty remarkable. Anything that she really does at this particular point is surprising and was unexpected.β
Senior outside hitter Paige Whipple is day-to-day with a back injury, and freshman middle blocker China Rai Crouch is in the concussion protocol.
