#18 WASHINGTON STATE 3, ARIZONA 0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-16)
Friday, October 21 | 6 p.m. MST
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery

ARIZONA (13-8, 5-4 Pac-12) vs. #7 WASHINGTON (17-2, 7-2 Pac-12)
Sunday, October 23 | 11 a.m. MST
Pac-12 Networks | Live Stats | Live Updates | Arizona Notes | Washington Notes | Tickets
 

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CATS AT A GLANCE

• Arizona returns to McKale Center this week after a historic two-week roadtrip that saw the Wildcats come one set shy of completing a sweep of the state of California in four consecutive matches. Two weeks ago, Arizona swept USC and UCLA on the road for the first time in school history. After the southern California sweep, Arizona went north and defeated Stanford for the first time in 20 tries. UA's victory over Stanford marked Arizona's first win against the Cardinal since 2005 and the first time that UA had defeated three consecutive ranked opponents on the road since the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
• Four weeks into Pac-12 play, Arizona is in a seven-way tie for second place in the league. Washington leads the conference with a 6-2 record while seven teams, including Arizona and Washington State, sit one game behind at 5-3. The Wildcats will take part in two of the 10 matches played amongst the top eight teams in the league this weekend.
• Arizona is beginning to play well and play to its potential in large part due to its health. Arizona's top three scorers (Kendra Dahlke - concussion; Kalei Mau - dislocated shoulder & slipped disc; Katarina Pilepic - broken finger) have all missed extended time this year. The trio have been in the starting lineup together just seven times this season, including the last four matches.
• Arizona's success this season can be traced to where it all starts: serve and pass. In Arizona's 13 wins, UA is averaging 1.71 aces/set while in losses, the Cats are averaging just 0.93 per set. Additionally, in losses the Cats have allowed 1.17 aces/set compared to just 0.69/set in victories. Arizona had a season-high-tying 14 service errors in Sunday's loss to California.
• In Arizona's last four matches, it is 3-0 vs. ranked teams and 0-1 vs. unranked opponents. This strays from a three-year trend in which Arizona is Arizona is 47-8 (.855) vs. unranked competition and 9-23 (.281) vs. ranked teams since the start of 2014.
• Arizona's opponents (future and past matches) have a combined record of 275-149 (.649), making the Wildcats' schedule the eighth hardest in the country.
• Two weeks ago, Penina Snuka was named the Flo Volleyball National Player of the Week for leading Arizona to a sweep over USC and UCLA. Last weekend, Snuka had 59 assists in both of Arizona's matches, one off her career high. Snuka's 59 assists in UA's four-set win over Stanford are the most in the Pac-12 this year in a four-set match. She had 19 and 12 digs, respectively, for her 11th and 12th double-double of the year.
• Kendra Dahlke is enjoying a breakout campaign in her sophomore year. After averaging 1.57 kills/set as a freshman with four double-digit kill matches, Dahlke leads the Wildcats with 4.09 kills/set and has had 10-or-more kills in 16 of the 18 matches she has played in. Dahkle is third in the Pac-12 in kills.
• Earlier this season, Penina Snuka became the fifth player in school history to surpass the 4,000 career assist plateau, and has since moved into third in Wildcat history with 4,527. Now, Snuka will turn her sites on the 5,000-assist club, where on only one other Wildcat resides: Dana Burkholder (5,424 career assists).
• 2016 marks the 25th season as the head coach of the Wildcats for Dave Rubio, the conference's active leader victories as a Pac-10/12 coach (472). In 2016, the team will celebrate his quarter century of excellence, which includes a 2000 Pac-10 championship and a trip to the 2001 Final Four.
• After finishing second-to-last in the Pac-12 in aces/set a year ago (0.85/set), the Wildcats are second in the conference in aces eight weeks into 2016 (1.41/set). Penina Snuka, who had never averaged more than 0.2 aces/set in her career, leads the team and is fifth in the Pac-12 with 0.34 aces/set.
• Penina Snuka is third in Arizona history with 4,527 career assists and third with 1,436 career digs. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her previous three seasons at Arizona. She has 12 this year, giving her 78 for her career.

 
THIS WEEK: One of eight teams in within one game of first place in the Pac-12, Arizona (13-7, 5-3 Pac-12) faces two other teams in the bunch: 18th-ranked Washington State (15-5, 5-3 Pac-12) and seventh-ranked Washington (16-2, 6-2 Pac-12). Washington, the highest-ranked team in the conference, leads pack at 6-2 in league play while the Wildcats and Cougars are among the seven teams one-game back at 5-3. When it's all said and done this weekend, Arizona will have completed a seven-match stretch with six ranked opponents. In the previous five, Arizona is 3-1 against ranked teams and 0-1 vs. the lone unranked team.
 
UA returns to the friendly confines of McKale Center this week after two weeks away from home. The two-week roadtrip was a successful one for the Cats, who swept USC and UCLA on the road for the first time in program history and then ended a 19-match losing streak to Stanford. Now, Arizona finds itself one spot out of the AVCA Top 25 and in the thick of the Pac-12 race. A big opportunity awaits this weekend for the Wildcats, as two top-20 teams come to McKale for a pair of marquee matchups. UA takes on No. 18 Washington State at 6 p.m. on Friday and No. 7 Washington at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
OPPONENTS
Washington State: The 18th-ranked Cougars (15-5, 5-3 Pac-12) have cooled a bit after they were the hottest team in the country, starting the Pac-12 season 5-0 with three victories over top-10 teams ... WSU has lost three straight matches, including two five-set heartbreakers this weekend at home to Colorado and Utah ... The Cougars' strength is at the net - WSU leads the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.148) and total blocks (251).
 
Washington: The seventh-ranked Huskies (16-2, 6-2 Pac-12) come to Arizona winners of five straight matches, dropping just two total sets in that span ... Washington is solid in all aspects of the game, finding itself in the top five in the Pac-12 in every statistical category ... Junior setter Bailey Tanner leads the Pac-12 in assists/set (10.63) ... Crissy Jones is the conference's leader in aces/set (0.40).
 
RANKINGS: Arizona received the 26th-most votes in this week's AVCA Top 25.
 
STARING AT THE STATS: Laura Larson (121) moved into 10th place in school history in matches played, with Snuka one behind her at 120. Larson has played in every match of her career and should surpass Madi Kingdon and Ronni Lewis' school record of 129 career matches played ... In eight Pac-12 matches, Arizona is averaging 16.79 digs/set, up from 14.61/set in nonconference matches ... In Arizona's two matches last weekend, Katarina Pilepic needed just 65 total swings to net 32 kills. The senior hit .400 ... Penina Snuka currently leads the Pac-12 in total assists (748). She led the conference in total assists last season ... Arizona's 73 kills vs. Stanford on Friday are the third most in the NCAA this year in a four-set match ... Three of Arizona's seven losses this year have come in five sets; the Cats are just 1-3 in five-set matches.
 
SETTING THE TONE: All-conference setter Penina Snuka has excelled in her three-plus seasons as the Wildcats' setter. Snuka has been an honorable mention All-American each of the last two seasons. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her three seasons at Arizona (2013 - 19, 2014 - 25, 2015 - 22) and has 12 in 2016, second in the conference. Snuka is currently third in Arizona history with 4,527 assists and is Arizona's top digging setter (second overall) with 1,436 digs.
 
CAN YOU DIG IT? After leading the conference in digs each of the last three years, Arizona is fourth this year, averaging 15.42 digs/set. Laura Larson is eighth in the league, averaging 3.69 digs/set. The senior has double-digit digs in 32 of Arizona's last 35 matches.
 
WHAT SOPHOMORE SLUMP? After averaging 1.57 kills/set as a part-time player in 2015, Kendra Dahlke has burst onto the scene in a big way as a sophomore. Dahlke leads Arizona with 4.09 kills/set and has had double-digit kills in 16 of her 18 matches. In 2015, she had four total double-digit kill efforts. Dahlke is third in the Pac-12 in both kills/set (4.09) and points/set (4.54).
 
PUTTING THE TEAM ON HER BACK: In the 45 matches that Kalei Mau has played in since the start of 2015, she has led the team (or tied for the team lead) in kills in 33 of those matches. Mau's nine 20-plus kill matches in that span rank 10th in a career in Arizona history.
 
ACE IN THE HOLE: Arizona leads the Pac-12 with 104 aces after finishing in the bottom third of the conference each of the last three years. The Wildcats' 104 equal their 2015 total in 13 fewer matches. Six Wildcats have double digit aces: Penina Snuka (25), Laura Larson (15), Makenna Martin (14), Reilly Killeen (12), Kalei Mau (11) and Katarina Pilepic (11).
 
PERFECT 10: Arizona's 2016 recruiting class was ranked as the 10th best class in the country by PrepVolleyball.com. The Cats have seven freshmen, including two top-100 recruits (#60 Shardonee Hayes & #67 Julia Patterson).
 
A CLASS OF THEIR OWN: Arizona's senior class has won 76 matches, with the opportunity to become the winningest class in over a decade. Should the 2016 team win five more matches, it will make the senior class the winningest in Arizona history since the 2003 class won 90. These seniors are trying to become Arizona's first to make four NCAA Tournament appearances since the 2005 class capped off Arizona's run of 10 straight NCAA Tournaments.
 
FOLLOW THE CATS: Get a behind-the-scenes look at the Arizona volleyball team on its various social media accounts to keep up with the Cats all season long.
Twitter: @ArizonaVBall
Instagram: @ArizonaVBall
YouTube: Arizona Volleyball
 
UP NEXT: The Wildcats hit the road to begin the second half of the conference season. UA heads to Oregon (Oct. 28) and Oregon State (Oct. 30) next weekend.