Arizona volleyball coach Dave Rubio said his team doesn’t have an identity quite yet, but he knows just what he wants it to be by the end of the year.
“We’re a tournament-level team,” Rubio said. “We have enough talent. By the end, I think we’ll be an excellent team and have a chance to go make a deep run. Our goal is to get to the round of 16.”
The Wildcats, who finished 10-11 in a truncated and delayed season last spring, start their fall 2021 campaign at home against Marist at 10 a.m. Friday as part of the Cactus Classic. Arizona then plays New Mexico State at 6:30 p.m. Friday and UC San Diego at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Arizona follows the tournament with eight additional non-conference matches, a sign of a return to normality after last season’s bizarre Pac-12-only slate.
“I’ve always said the non-conference plays a bigger part in who gets selected to the tournament rather than the conference play,” Rubio said.
However, the veteran coach in his 30th season made it clear that there is little room for error.
For Arizona to be a tournament team, it needs to perform well in the non-conference. Rubio even put a number on it: 10 wins.
“The key is can you win enough matches between now and being selected? So the non-conference becomes a big deal,” Rubio said. “If you can win eight matches in the conference, you’ll be 18-14 or 18-15 and that will typically get you in the tournament. But our non-conference schedule is pretty competitive.”
Back-to-back matches against No. 1 Texas, last year’s NCAA runner-up, and No. 25 Notre Dame on Sept. 10 and 11, in Austin, highlight the non-conference slate. Even with his team receiving some votes in the AVCA coaches poll, Rubio thinks his program still needs to grow to compete with the upper echelon of the sport.
UA coach Dave Rubio has high expectations in his 30th season as Arizona’s coach. “We’re young, we’re good and it’s as talented a team as I’ve had in a long time,” he said.
“We have nothing to lose. I think everyone in the country is saying ‘Texas is going to roll right through Arizona,’” Rubio said. “Playing Notre Dame is a much better match for us. They’re a very good team and probably similar to us. Texas returns their entire lineup of the team that lost in the finals. We’re going to play them at their place, and they are exceptionally physical.”
Nothing will be taken for granted by a team that had so much uncertainty last academic year.
While Arizona played more games than many of its Pac-12 counterparts, it also welcomed three freshmen into significant roles. Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Jaelyn Hodge finished first and second in kills with 272 and 176, respectively, while Emery Herman established herself as the team’s setter of the future, tallying 703 assists.
It’s easy to get lost in all of that production and forget that there are still hurdles ahead for the trio and the rest of the young team, which only features one senior among its key contributors.
“We’re young, we’re good and it’s as talented a team as I’ve had in a long time,” Rubio said. “But we have no personality nor identity. You kind of have to go through the growing pains to develop that."
