TUCSON, Ariz.—The Arizona Beach Volleyball team will host the Arizona Invitational March 22-23. The Sand Cats are 10-3 on the season and are undefeated at Bear Down Beach.
 
Last week, the Wildcats went 2-0 at the Arizona Duals, defeating both Park University and Benedictine in 5-0 sweeps. This week, Arizona will face Santa Clara, Utah, Missouri State and Arizona Christian.
 
This weekend the Wildcats will also honor six seniors on the team: Hope Shannon, Grace Cook, Maki Bispham, Miranda Erro, Abby Russell and Mady Noble. The Senior Day Ceremony will take place before Saturday's match against Arizona Christian University.
 
Arizona Invite Match Ups
 
Santa Clara- The Sand Cats are undefeated (6-0) against Santa Clara. The last meeting between the teams, in March 2021, resulted in a 4-1 Wildcat victory.
 
Utah- The Wildcats are 9-0 against the Utes, with their most recent matchup at the Pac-12 South Invitational March 8 ending in a 3-2 Arizona win.
 
Missouri State-Arizona is 5-0 in their meetings with Missouri State. The Sand Cats won their last matchup in the 2023 season season 5-0.
 
Arizona Christian- The Wildcats have won all four of their matchups against Arizona Christian University. The last time the two teams met, in March 2023, the Wildcats walked away with a 5-0 victory.
 
Arizona Invitational full match schedule:
 
Friday, March 22:
 
MATCH 1- Missouri St. vs. Utah (10:00 a.m.)
MATCH 2- Santa Clara vs. Arizona (11:00 a.m.)
MATCH 3- Missouri St. vs. Utah (12:00 p.m.)
MATCH 4- Utah vs. Arizona (2:00 p.m.)
MATCH 5- Arizona Christian vs. Santa Clara (4:00 p.m.)
 
 
Saturday, March 23:
 
MATCH 1- Missouri St. vs. Arizona (10:00 a.m.)
MATCH 2- UTEP vs. Utah (11:00 a.m.)
MATCH 3- Arizona Christian vs. Missouri St. (12:00 p.m.)
MATCH 4- Santa Clara vs. UTEP (1:00 p.m.)
MATCH 5- Arizona Christian vs. Arizona (2:00 p.m.)
 
After this weekend, the Wildcats will be on the road for a few weeks, heading to Phoenix, Seattle, Boise and Stanford before returning home for a rematch against ASU April 18.
 
 
NOTING THE WILDCATS
 
Steve Walker is entering his 11^th season as a coach for the Wildcats. Walker has a career record of 190-85 (.691) at Arizona. Named the 2016 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Coach of the Year, Walker led Arizona to the first NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in 2016.

Hope Shannon is 57-35 in her career at Arizona, going 7-6 so far this season. Shannon now ranks 11^th in career wins at Arizona. Last week, Shannon went 2-0 in the Arizona Duals with partner Annie Kost at No. 3. Shannon and partner Grace Cook are 4-5 at No. 1.
 
Grace Cook joined the Wildcats in 2023 after transferring from Missouri St. In her career at Arizona, Cook is 27-18. This season, Cook has earned four wins at No. 1 and two wins at No. 2.
 
Abby Russell has a record of 51-33 at Arizona, putting her at No. 13 for career wins at Arizona. This season, Russell and partner Olivia McElroy have gone 9-4, with two vistories at No.1 and seven victories at No. 2.
 
Olivia McElroy is in her first season with the Wildcats and has a 9-4 record. Last week at the Arizona Duals, McElroy and Russell went 2-0, winning both matches in two sets.
 
Annie Kost is 36-20 in her time at Arizona. This season, Kost is 10-3 at the No. 3 position, playing with both Hope Shannon and Kylee Fitzsimmons.
 
Kylee Fitzsimmons has a career record of 18-7. This season, Fitzsimmons has gone 9-4, with two victories at No. 2 and seven victories at No. 3.  
 
Miranda Erro is 26-16 at Arizona. This season, Erro has a 7-4 record at the No. 5 position, where she has played with freshman partner Ashlyn Zilliken.

Zilliken is 8-4 in her first season with the Sand Cats. Prior to her time at Arizona, Zilliken earned AVCA 2023 Beach Junior Honorable Mention All-American honors.

Freshman pair Jess Horwath and Kate Phillips have one of the strongest records for the Sand Cats this year, going 10-3 at the No. 4 position.
 
Last week, Elin Kaiser and Meghan O'Meara played together at No. 5 for the first time against Benedictine Mesa and left with a decisive victory, defeating their opponents in two sets.