KANSAS STATE 3, ARIZONA 1 (25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 25-18)
Recap | Box Score

#4 WISCONSIN 3, ARIZONA 0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-22)
Recap | Box Score

ARIZONA at #6 HAWAII
Sunday, August 28 | 8 p.m. MST
Live Stats | Live Updates
 

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CATS AT A GLANCE

• Arizona welcomes back five starters from a 2015 squad that finished 19-14 and earned the program's third consecutive (and sixth in seven years) trip to the NCAA Tournament.
• Arizona's all-Pac-12 duo of Penina Snuka (setter) and Kalei Mau (outside hitter) will pace the offense once again while senior libero Laura Larson leads a defense that led the Pac-12 in digs in 2015 for the third consecutive season (16.83 digs/set).
• Head Coach Dave Rubio enters his 25th season as the head coach of the Wildcats. Rubio is the conference's active leader victories as a Pac-10/12 coach (459). 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.
• In addition to Arizona's five returning starters and four additional returning letterwinners, Arizona welcomes in the 10th-best recruiting class in the nation (PrepVolleyball.com).
• The Wildcats spend three of the first four weeks of the season on the road, marking the first time in the Pac-10/12 era (1986-current) that the Wildcats have spent three of the first four nonconference weekends away from McKale Center. It also marks the first time since 2011 that Arizona has not hosted two nonconference tournaments of its own.
• Penina Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles each of her three years in the league, including 22 in 2015. Snuka has 65 for her career.

 
THIS WEEK: Expectations are high for Arizona in 2016, led by senior All-American setter Penina Snuka, a four-year starter for head coach Dave Rubio, and all-Pac-12 outside hitter Kalei Mau. The Cats will be thrown into the fire immediately in week 1, as two top-10 teams await the Wildcats in Honolulu, Hawaii to open the season. Arizona faces Kansas State, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 6 Hawaii over three days in the Wahine Ivitational. The trip to Hawaii represents a return home for Mau, Reilly Killeen and Sara Watanabe as well as Snuka, who spent her senior year in high school on the island.
 
OPPONENTS
Kansas State: The Wildcats are coming off a 17-12 season in 2015 in which the team reached its second straight NCAA Tournament and 16th in the last 20 years ... Setter Katie Brand, the Big 12's active leader in career assists and two-time AVCA All-America Honorable Mention selection, was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team ... The Wildcats return their top seven scorers from an offense that totaled 14/1 kills per set on .227 hitting.
 
Wisconsin: The fourth-ranked Badgers return 12 letterwinners from a 26-7 campaign in 2015 in which the team reached the program's third straight Sweet 16 ... Three All-Americans highlight six returning starters for the Badgers ... The Badgers are led by two-time first-team AVCA All-American setter Lauren Carlini, who has been named the Big Ten Setter of the Year each of the last two seasons ... Wisconsin has won 25-plus matches each of the last three years.
 
Hawaii: The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine are coming off a Big West Title and Regional final appearance in 2015, a year in which they finished with a sparkling 29-2 record ... UH returns 12 players (five starters) including 2015 Big West Player of the Year Nikki Taylor and all-Big West players Emily Maglio, Savanah Kahakai and Kalei Greeley ... Hawaii is the unanimous preseason Big West favorite after going 16-0 in league play last season.
 
RANKINGS: Arizona is receiving votes in the preseason AVCA Top-25
 
SETTING THE TONE: All-conference setter Penina Snuka has excelled in her three 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). After just three seasons, Snuka is fifth in Arizona history with 3,779 assists and is Arizona's top digging setter (fourth overall) with 1,209 digs.
 
CAN YOU DIG IT? Arizona led the conference in digs in each of the last three years, including a school-record 17.87/set in 2014 and 16.83/set in 2014. Laura Larson, who finished with double-figure digs in her last 16 matches, was Arizona's primary libero.
 
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 64 games, with the opportunity to become the winningest class in over a decade in 2016. The 64 victories over the last three years are the most since winning 73 from 2000-02. Should the 2016 team win 18 games, 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 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: Arizona returns home next week to host Alabama State, SMU and Pepperdine in the Wildcat Classic in McKale Center Sept. 2-3 to open the home schedule.