Update 9/8: ALL MATCHES IN THE FSU/FAMUÂ CLASSIC HAVE BEEN CANCELED DUE TO HURRICANE IRMA.
FSU/FAMU CLASSIC
SEPTEMBER 8-9 • TALLAHASSEE, FLA.
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Match Notes:Â
Arizona Wildcats (4-2) • Florida A&M Rattlers (1-6) • Florida State Seminoles (5-1)
THE GAMES (Times MST)
1 | Friday, Sept. 8 (3 p.m.) |Â
 atÂ
 | Tallahassee, Fla. (Al Lawson Center) | (No Live Coverage)
2 | Saturday, Sept. 9 (1:30 p.m.) |Â
 vs.Â
 | Tallahassee, Fla. (Al Lawson Center) |
Live Stats |Â
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WEEKLY NOTES
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CATS HEAD EAST TO FACE FLORIDA A&M, FLORIDA STATE
Arizona volleyball (4-2) heads to the Sunshine State for a pair of matches in what will be the final road affairs of the nonconference schedule. The Wildcats will face Florida A&M on Friday at 3 p.m. and 20th-ranked Florida State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MST. The Cats head into the third week of the season 4-2 and will look to shake off the taste of a five-set loss to Radford in their last match of the Cactus Classic in which UA was up 2-0 and 17-11 in the third set. The loss broke a stretch of three straight sweeps for the Cats, a young team that proved to be growing and maturing but showed the growing pains of a lineup that features five first-year starters.
SERIES HISTORY
- This will be UA's third matchup with Florida A&M in the last three seasons; the Wildcats swept the Rattlers in 2014 in Austin, Texas (25-20, 25-23, 25-13) and in 2015 in Tucson (25-12, 25-14, 25-19).
- Arizona is 2-0 vs. Florida State, but the two teams have not met since 1985, when the Cats swept the Seminoles (15-7, 15-4, 15-7) in Knoxville, Tennessee.
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 483-293 at UA.
- Florida A&M head coach Tanio Trifonov is in his 16th season with the Rattlers.
- Chris Poole is 216-54 in his 11th season at Florida State. Overall, his 792 career victories rank seventh among active DI coaches.
CATS AT A GLANCE
- Arizona is second in the Pac-12 in opponent hitting percentage, holding teams to a .130 clip. In UA's four victories, its opponents are hitting .065.
- The Wildcats rank fourth in the conference in blocks/set (3.11) and have had double-digit blocks in all of their six matches. UA had 10-or-more blocks in just 43% of their matches last season (15-of-35).
- Underclassmen account for 54% of Arizona's kills (156-of-291), 91% of Arizona's assists (241-of-266), 57% of Arizona's digs (178-of-313), 65% of Arizona's solo blocks (11-of-17) and 63% of Arizona's block assists (65-of-103).
- Devyn Cross and Jade Turner were named to the Cactus Classic All-Tournament Team. Both players averaged more than 1.5 kills per set on better than .340 hitting. Cross and Turner were Arizona's two leading blockers, averaging 1.27 per set an 0.82 per set, respectively.
- Wildcat players already have accounted for seven double-doubles (Julia Patterson - 3, Kendra Dahlke - 2, Paige Whipple - 2). Arizona is one of two teams in the Pac-12 (Oregon) to have at least three players with multiple double-doubles.
OPPONENTS
Florida A&M (1-6)
- The Rattlers are coming off a 1-2 weekend at the North Dakota State Tournament in Fargo, North Dakota, in which they swept San Francisco and lost to Northern Colorado and North Dakota State.
- FAMU is led by Nicole Abreu's 4.00 kills per set while Valentina Carrasco averages 4.89 digs/set.
- This tournament will be the first home matches of the season for Florida A&M.Â
#20 Florida State (5-1)
- The Seminoles went 2-1 at the Seminole Invitational with victories over UNC Asheville and TCU and a straight-set defeat to Colorado State.
- Milica Kubura leads the team with 3.59 kills/set on .279 hitting while adding 1.09 blocks/set.
RANKINGS
- Arizona did not receive votes in this week's AVCA Top 25.Â
- 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. 8 Washington, No. 11 UCLA, No. 14 Oregon, No. 18 Utah and No. 19 USC. Washington State is receiving votes.
- UA has 10 matches scheduled against teams currently ranked in the Top 25.
CAN YOU DIG IT?
- Arizona has finished top three in the conference in each of the last four season in digs per set. UA led the Pac-12 from 2013-15 and finished third in 2016 (15.67 digs/set).
- However, four of the six players that averaged more than a dig per set last season graduated, including libero Laura Larson and setter Penina Snuka, two of the top five diggers in UA history.
- This season, UA is averaging 14.23 digs/set led by libero Kimberly Gutierrez's 3.14 digs/set.
DAHLKE LOOKS TO BUILD ON STELLAR SOPHOMORE SEASON
- Kendra Dahlke had a breakout campaign in 2016, averaging 3.95 kills and 4.35 points per set. Those figures ranked fourth and sixth in the Pac-12. Those figures were up from 1.57 kills and 1.72 points per set as a freshman in 2015.
- Dahlke is second on the team with 2.71 kills/set this season.
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 10.45 assists and 2.77 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 tied for the conference-lead with three double-doubles.Â
DON'T CROSS HER
- Devyn Cross made an immediate impact in 2016, stepping in as one of UA's starting middles almost immediately. However, it was late in the season that she truly left her mark, averaging 1.25 blocks/set over UA's last three weeks of 2016. She's carried that into 2017...
- Dating back to Nov. 18, 2016 (last 13 matches), Cross is averaging 1.61 kills/set on .392 hitting with 1.28 blocks/set. Prior to that point, Cross averaged 1.21 kills/set on .248 hittinge with 0.80 blocks/set.
RUBIO AND STAFF RECRUITING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
WILD KITTENS
- Arizona has eight freshmen, five sophomores, three junior 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.
ONE LAST GO-AROUND FOR MACK
- Middle blocker McKenzie Jacobson is set for her redshirt senior season. Jacobson, along with transfer Kimberly Gutierrez, are the lone two seniors on the squad.
- Jacobson led the team in hitting percentage last season (.293) and averaged more than two points per set (2.01) for the second straight year.
UP NEXT
- Arizona returns home to face William and Mary, New Mexico State and Illinois State in the Wildcat Classic, Spet. 15-16 in McKale Center.
