TEXAS A&M 3, ARIZONA 0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-20)
Recap | Box Score

ARIZONA 3, SACRAMENTO STATE 0
Recap | Box Score

ARIZONA (4-4) at NEW MEXICO STATE (6-2)
Saturday, September 10 | 11 a.m. MST
Live Stats | Live Updates

 

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CATS AT A GLANCE

• After an impressive showing at the Wildcat Classic, Arizona returns to the road for another tough test away from McKale Center. UA faces a pair of 2015 NCAA Tournament-qualifying Aggies (No. 16 Texas A&M and New Mexico State) and Sacramento State in the Borderland Invitational in Las Cruces.
• Arizona swept three matches at the Wildcat Classic last weekend, needing the minimum nine sets to dispatch of Alabama State, SMU and Pepperdine, winning each set by an average score of 25-15.
• Penina Snuka should break into third place all-time in Arizona history in career assists this week. Snuka enters the weekend with 3,979 dimes, 56 shy of Stephanie Butkus' 4,035 assists from 2003-06.
• 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 3.81 kills/set and has had 10-or-more kills in five of Arizona's six matches.
• 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 (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.
• Libero Laura Larson has had double-digit digs in her last 22 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 fifth in Arizona history with 3,979 career assists and fourth with 1,234 career digs. Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles in each of her three seasons at Arizona. She has two this year, giving her 68 for her career.

THIS WEEK: Arizona (3-3) returns to the road this weekend after shaking off an 0-3 start to the season with three dominant sweeps at the Wildcat Classic to pull to .500. Now, the competition ramps back up on the road as UA is set to take on No. 16 Texas A&M, Sacramento State and New Mexico State in the Borderland Invitational, hosted by NMSU. Penina Snuka eyes yet another milestone, as she will likely become the fifth player in school history to reach the 4,000 career assist mark. Snuka enters the weekend with 3,979. Snuka has two of the top seven offensive weapons in the Pac-12; Kendra Dahlke is sixth in the conference with 3.81 kills/set and Kalei Mau is seventh (3.67/set).

OPPONENTS
Texas A&M: The 16th-ranked Aggies (3-3) are 3-0 this season against unranked competition, but have lost all three matches they have played against ranked competition, including a pair last weekend in Puerto Rico ... TAMU went 1-2 at the Puerto Rico Clasico in San Juan, with a victory over Virginia Tech (3-0) and losses to #16 Florida State (3-2) and #6 Minnesota (3-0) ... The reigning SEC champion Aggies have four players averaging more than 2.00 kills/set, led by Kiara McGee's 3.78.
Sacramento State: The Hornets (3-3) dropped all three matches at the Rebel Challenge (losses to UNLV, Cal State Northridge and Hofstra) after beginning the year 3-0 ... Kennedy Kurtz (11.70 assists/set) runs the offense for the Hornets while Shannon Boyle (4.33 kills/set and 3.71 digs/set) is a double0double waiting to happen.
New Mexico State: The Aggies (5-0) went a perfect 4-0 at the Troy Tournament in Troy, Alabama, dropping just one total set in victories over Austin Peay, Valparaiso, Troy and Southern ... New Mexico State, fresh off an NCAA Tournament berth in 2015, will be in search of its first win over Arizona; the Wildcats own a 15-0 all-time record in the series ... NMSU has outhit its opponents .261-.133 thus far and its two top kill-producers both hit over .300 (Sasha-Lee Thomas: 76 kills, .300 hit% & Kassandra Tohm: 68 kills, .374 hit%).

RANKINGS: Arizona is receiving votes in the 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 two in 2016. Snuka is currently fifth in Arizona history with 3,979 assists and is Arizona's top digging setter (fourth overall) with 1,259 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. Senior Laura Larson has double-digit digs in each of her last 22 matches dating back to 2015, averaging 4.3 digs/set in those 83 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 six matches, Dahlke leads Arizona with 3.81 kills/set and has had double-digit kills in five of Arizona's six matches. In 2015, she had four total double-digit kill efforts.

PUTTING THE TEAM ON HER BACK: In the 35 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 67 games, with the opportunity to become the winningest class in over a decade in 2016. The 67 victories over the last three-plus 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 wraps up the nonconference slate in Indianapolis, Indiana as the Cats take on Northern Kentucky, Loyola Chicago and Butler in the Butler Invitational Sept. 16-17.