PALO ALTO, Calif. - The Arizona beach volleyball team will play the first game of the 2023 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championship on Wedneday at 10:15 a.m. PT against No. 2 seed USC. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. 

A win over the Trojans would advance the Wildcats to the quarterfinals on Thursday, while a loss would see the Cats back in action on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. PT.

TEAM NOTES

• Arizona is 19-10 on the season and is looking for one more win to reach 20 wins for the fifth time in the 10 years the program has existed.
• Head coach Steve Walker is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Wildcats – the only head coach the program has had since it was started in 2014. His record with the Wildcats is 178-80 (.690).
• Arizona is ranked No. 20 in this weeks AVCA Top 20 poll
• The Wildcats are 3-7 against Top 20 teams this season, picking up wins over No. 10 Stanford, No. 17 Pepperdine and No. 14 Georgia State.
• Six of the last seven opponents for Arizona have been ranked in the Top 14 of the AVCA Top 20 poll and the Wildcats are 1-6 in those games.
• Earlier this season, Arizona lost to No. 2 USC on April 8 by a score of 4-1 during the Pac-12 North Invitational hosted by Stanford.
  • The one match win against the Trojans marked just third time in the all-time series that UA had won a match (2014, 2017, 2023)
• Arizona is 0-11 all-time against USC and 0-2 against the Trojans in the Pac-12 Tournament (2016, 2022)
  • Last year in Tucson at the Pac-12 Championship, USC defeated Arizona, 3-0.
  • Seven of the 10 Wildcats that competed against USC last year at the Pac-12 Tournament are still on the roster and all seven are likely to be in the lineup this week.
• Last Friday, Arizona dropped a heartbreaker to Arizona State at Bear Down Beach, 3-2. The Wildcats won the first two matches (2's and 4's) before dropping the final three matches – all in three sets.
  • In the first meeting of the year between the two schools in Tempe, Arizona won the 2's and 4's and then lost the last three matches to lose the dual.
• Arizona's record by lineup order:
  • No. 1 – 16-13 (.552)
  • No. 2 – 18-11 (.621)
  • No. 3 – 19-10 (.655)
  • No. 4 – 23-6 (.793)
  • No. 5 – 19-10 (.655)
• The Wildcats roster features 10 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 sophomores and two freshmen

 
PLAYER NOTES

• Senior Sarah Blacker (San Diego, Calif.) became the program's all-time leader in individual wins earlier this season. She currently has 90 career victories after passing Madison Witt (2014-17), McKenna Witt (2014-17) and Brooke Burling (2017-21) who are all in second place now with 86.
• The pair of Blacker and Alex Parkhurst are 16-12 this season, but 30-14 in their careers when paired together.
• On April 10, seniors Kali Uhl and Dilara Gedikoglu were named AVCA National Pair of the Week after going 4-0 at the Pac-12 North Invitational against Stanford, Utah, USC and UCLA.
  • They are the first pair in Arizona history to receive this honor
• On April 11, they were named Pac-12 Pair of the Week, becoming the first Arizona pair to ever receive that honor as well.
• Entering this season, Kali Uhl had played in a total of 10 matches in her first three seasons at Arizona. This season, she is 15-3 entering the Pac-12 Tournament.
• Gedikoglu has played three seasons of indoor volleyball (one at Tulsa, two at Arizona) and this is her second season of beach volleyball at Arizona.
  • As a freshman, she was the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year at Tulsa (indoor)
  • She has another year of eligibility remaining (COVID year)
  • Played beach volleyball in Turkey since the age of 14
• The pair of Alana Rennie and Grace Cook are looking to end a four-match losing streak, but are still 19-10 overall on the season together.
  • Cook is a grad transfer from Missouri State
• Junior Miranda Erro had only played in one match prior to the start of the 2023 season. She has excelled this season to post an 18-10 overall record.
• Erro and Annie Kost are 15-9 on the year at the No. 5 spot in the lineup.
• Maki Bispham, who has not appeared in a match this season, was named the Unsung Hero Award winner at the Arizona Athletics CATSYS Awards show on Monday, April 24.
  • All student-athletes at Arizona were eligible for the award
  • The award is given to the student-athlete that gives his/her all each and every day to the team and sport. The winner's dedication shows full-spirit, heart and exemplifies The Wildcat Way.