Cats Host ASU for Senior Day - University of Arizona Athletics

ARIZONA at #12 WASHINGTON (Nov. 22 • Seattle, Wash.)
SENIOR NIGHT - ARIZONA vs. ARIZONA STATE (Nov. 25 • Tucson, Ariz.)

Match Notes: Arizona Wildcats (10-18, 4-15 Pac-12) • Arizona State Sun Devils (10-20, 0-18 Pac-12)

THE GAMES (Times MST)
Match 28 | Wednesday, Nov. 22 (5 p.m.) |

0 | Recap | Box Score
Match 29 | Saturday, Nov. 25 (7 p.m.) |

vs.

WEEKLY NOTES

ARIZONA WRAPS UP 2017 SEASON WITH ROAD/HOME SPLIT WEEK
The 2017 Arizona volleyball season comes to a close this week as the Wildcats (10-17, 4-14 Pac-12) will head to Seattle to take on 12th-ranked Washington (22-7, 12-6 Pac-12) before returning home to face Arizona State (10-20, 0-18 Pac-12). While this season has been much about the future of the program and the growth of the abundance of promising underclassmen, this week is about three seniors who have been invaluable to the program. This week, seniors McKenzie Jacobson, Jade Turner and Kimberly Gutierrez will play their final matches in an Arizona uniform. The three will be honored before Saturday's season finale against Arizona State.

SERIES HISTORY

Washington holds a 45-20 all-time lead in the series with Arizona. The two teams have yet to meet this season, but last year the Wildcats and Huskies played three times, with Washington winning all three, including a Sweet 16 matchup in Lincoln, Nebraska. Overall, Washington has won 12 straight meetings between the two clubs.
Arizona holds a 48-43 all-time record over Arizona State. The Wildcats have won nine straight against the Sun Devils in McKale Center. UA won the matchup earlier this season in Tempe in straight sets.

COACHES

Arizona head coach Dave Rubio is in his 26th season with the Wildcats. The conference's active leader in wins a Pac-12 coach, Rubio is 489-308 at UA.
Washington head coach Keegan Cook is in his third season as head coach of the Huskies. He is 82-15.
ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic is in her first season as head of the program.

CATS AT A GLANCE

In Arizona's 27 matches this year, the Wildcats have used 18 different lineups, including 11 different lineups in their last 15 matches.
Fifth-year senior McKenzie Jacobson is playing in her final two matches of her career this week. Jacobson, who led the team as a freshman and as a junior, is hitting a team-best and career-best .374 this season, bringing her career figure to .295, ninth in Arizona history.
Arizona has four freshmen with 60 or-more kills this season (Paige Whipple - 185, Elizabeth Shelton - 174, Candice Denny - 97 and Katie Smoot - 69) for the first time in school history.
Freshmen and sophomores account for 54% of Arizona's kills (686-of-1,273), 88% of Arizona's assists (1,034-of-1,178), 62% of Arizona's digs (858-of-1,386) and 66% of Arizona's blocks.

OPPONENTS
#12 Washington (22-7, 12-6 Pac-12)

The 12th-ranked Huskies have won four of their last five, including three vs. ranked opponents. UW split at Oregon State (L, 2-3) and at No. 20 Oregon (W, 3-0) last week.
Washington leads the Pac-12 and is fifth in the country, averaging 3.07 blocks per set , led by Lauren Sanders' 1.46/set.

Arizona State (10-20, 0-18 Pac-12)

The Sun Devils are winless in the Pac-12 but have taken two of their last three opponents to five sets, including a loss at Colorado in their last match in which they were up 2-1.
Senior Oluoma Okaro is second in the Pac-12, averaging 4.42 kills/set while senior Halle Harker leads the conference in digs (5.30/set).

RANKINGS

Arizona did not receive votes in this week's AVCA Top 25.
Arizona was ranked 24th in the preseason top 25, marking Arizona's 314th week in the AVCA Top 25, dating back to 1982. That's 10th-most among all schools in Division I.
The Pac-12 has six teams in the Top 25: No. 4 Stanford, No. 12 Washington, No. 13 USC, No. 15 Utah, No. 19 UCLA and No. 24 Oregon. Oregon State and Colorado are receiving votes.
UA is 2-8 this season vs. ranked opponents.

SPREADING THE LOVE

Eight different Wildcats average more than one kill per set, tied for the most of any team in the conference.
UA has 10 players with at least 50 kills on the year, also the most of any team in the league. The other 11 teams have an average of 6.6 players with more than 30 kills on the year.
Seven different Wildcats have led Arizona in kills in a match this year.

DAHLKE'S RESURGENCE

After struggling out of the gates this season, Kendra Dahlke is returning to form in conference play, helping reshape Arizona's offense. In nine nonconference matches, Dahlke had just 61 kills and was hitting .100. In 16 Pac-12 matches, Dahlke has 226 kills (including a career-high 23 vs. Oregon last Sunday) and is eighth in the Pac-12 in kills/set in conference matches (3.59).
Dahlke is coming off a breakout campaign in 2016, a season in which she averaged 3.95 kills and 4.35 points per set. Those figures ranked fourth and sixth in the Pac-12, up from 1.57 kills and 1.72 points per set as a freshman in 2015.

BIG SHOES TO FILL

This season, sophomore setter Julia Patterson is tasked with replacing All-American Penina Snuka, the 2016 Pac-12 Setter of the Year. So far, so good. Patterson is averaging 10.08 assists/set, sixth most in the Pac-12, and 2.32 digs/set.
As the understudy of the best digging setter in UA history, Patterson must have picked up a thing or two. Snuka led the Pac-12 in double-doubles all four seasons as UA. Patterson is seventh in the Pac-12 with 11 double-doubles this year.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS

Four freshmen have played huge roles for the Wildcats this season: OPP Elizabeth Shelton (18 starts), OH Paige Whipple (16 starts), MB Candice Denny (13 starts) and Katie Smoot (2 starts).
All four have 60-or-more kills this year, marking the first time in school history that UA has had four freshmen with 60-plus kills.
Arizona's freshman records:

RUBIO AND STAFF RECRUITING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Arizona's 2017 recruiting class was ranked No. 12 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com.
This marks Arizona's third straight top-15 recruiting classes. UA's 2016 class was ranked No. 10 while the 2015 class was ranked No. 14.
UA has eight former top-100 recruits on its roster: Paige Whipple (#27; 2017), Tyler Spriggs (#37; 2015), Kendra Dahlke (#49; 2015), Shardonee Hayes (#60; 2016), Katie Smoot (#63; 2017), Julia Patterson (#67; 2016), Candice Denny (#86; 2017) and McKenzie Jacobson (#96; 2014).

WILD KITTENS

Arizona has eight freshmen, five sophomores, three juniors and just three seniors. Arizona's 13 underclassmen are the most in the Pac-12.
Through graduation/transfer, Arizona lost six players who combined for 737 total sets played in 2016. The nine returners combined for 550 sets last season and 946 for their entire careers.

GOING STREAKING

With Arizona's sweep of #15 USC this season, UA extended a streak of now seven straight seasons in which the Wildcats have upset either USC or UCLA while they were ranked. (2016 - #22, #25 USC & #18, #9 UCLA; 2015 - #11 UCLA; 2014 - #20 UCLA; 2013 - #1 USC; 2012 - #5 UCLA; 2011 - #2 UCLA twice).