ARIZONA 3, NORTHERN KENTUCKY 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-13)
Recap | Box Score

ARIZONA (6-4) vs. LOYOLA CHICAGO (4-5)
Saturday, September 17 | 8 a.m. MST
Live Stats | Live Updates | Arizona Notes | Loyola Chicago Notes

ARIZONA (6-4) at BUTLER (8-4)
Saturday, September 17 | 3 p.m. MST
Live Stream | Live Stats | Live Updates | Arizona Notes | Butler Notes
 

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CATS AT A GLANCE

• Winners of five of their last six matches, the Wildcats head to the Butler Invitational for the final nonconference tournament of the season.
• According to the widely-used Rich Kern Rankings, Arizona's schedule (past and future matches) is the most difficult in the country. The Cats have already played three top-16 teams this year.
• Last week, Penina Snuka became the fifth player in school history to surpass the 4,000 career assist plateau, and moved into third in Wildcat history with 4,078. 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).
• Kendra Dahlke is enjoying a bit of 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 4.03 kills/set and has had 10-or-more kills in eight of Arizona's nine matches. Dahkle is second in the Pac-12 in kills.
• 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 (461). 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.
• Libero Laura Larson has had double-digit digs in her last 25 matches dating back to 2015. She is fourth in the Pac-12 with 89 digs this season. Arizona has led the Pac-12 in digs/set in each of the last three seasons, all three years that Larson has been on the roster.
• Penina Snuka is third in Arizona history with 4,078 career assists and third with 1,300 career digs. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her previous three seasons at Arizona. She has four this year, giving her 70 for her career.

 
THIS WEEK: Arizona (5-4) heads to Indianapolis this week for one final tune-up prior to the start of Pac-12 play. UA will face Northern Kentucky, Loyola Chicago and Butler in the Butler Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Cats will look to keep their September momentum going into this weekend and then into league play; UA is 5-1 this month after an 0-3 month of August. The Butler Invitational marks the end to a roller coaster of a four-week nonconference slate for the Wildcats, one UA will certainly be better for in the long run, regardless of what the win-loss record may or may not indicate. All four of Arizona's losses are to teams ranked in this week's AVCA Top 25. 2016 will mark the first time since 2004 that the Wildcats will have played three top-20 teams prior to the start of conference play.
 
OPPONENTS
Northern Kentucky: The Norse (6-2) enter the Butler Invitational after a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Morehead State Invitational with a trio of four-set victories over Ball State, Appalachian State and Morehead State ... Libero Lauren Hurley was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week after a historic week, posting dig totals of 24, 30, 31, breaking the school record in the finale ... Keely Creamer leads the offense with 3.29 kills/set on .353 hitting.
 
Loyola Chicago: The Ramblers (4-5) went 1-2 at the Wildcat Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas last weekend, with a five-set victory over Mississippi State and losses to Miami (Fla.) and Kansas State ... Gabi Maciagowski has a great name and game to match: the sophomore leads the team with 3.15 kills/set and adds 0.69 blocks/set ... The Ramblers outblock their opponents 2.44-2.01.
 
Butler: The Bulldogs (8-4) ride a six-match winning streak into their home invitational this weekend, including a 3-0 showing at the Butler Classic, with wins over Tennessee State, Murray State and Wright State, dropping just one set in the process ... Two of Butler's four losses this season have come to Pac-12 teams: Utah (4 sets) and ASU (5 sets) ... High powered offense hits .252 and averages 13.60 kills/set compared to 11.40 from opponents.
 
RANKINGS: Arizona is not ranked in this week's AVCA Top 25.
 
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 four in 2016. Snuka is currently third in Arizona history with 4,078 assists and is Arizona's top digging setter (third overall) with 1,300 digs.
 
CAN YOU DIG IT? Arizona led the conference in digs in each of the last three years. Senior Laura Larson has double-digit digs in each of her last 25 matches dating back to 2015, averaging 4.2 digs/set in those 93 sets.
 
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. Through nine matches, Dahlke leads Arizona with 4.03 kills/set and has had double-digit kills in eight of Arizona's nine matches. In 2015, she had four total double-digit kill efforts. Dahlke is second in the Pac-12 in both kills/set (4.03) and points/set (4.68).
 
PUTTING THE TEAM ON HER BACK: In the 37 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 30 of those matches. Mau's nine 20-plus kill matches in her last 27 played rank 10th in a career in Arizona history.
 
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 69 matches, with the opportunity to become the winningest class in over a decade in 2016. 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 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: Arizona begins the Pac-12 slate with a visit from the school up north. Arizona and Arizona State will face off on the Pac-12 Networks on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. MST. UA will then head out to Colorado for a Sunday matchup with the Buffaloes.