Cats Gear Up for Final Week of Regular Season

Nov 24, 2014

WEEK 14 (NOV. 26 & 28): USC ; Arizona State // Tucson ; Tempe

No. 14 Arizona Wildcats (22-8, 11-7 Pac-12) vs. USC Trojans (14-14, 7-11 Pac-12), No. 22 Arizona State Sun Devils (18-12, 8-10 Pac-12)

THE GAMES

Date Time (MST) (Rank) Opponent Location

Wednesday, Nov. 26 6:00 p.m. USC McKale Center

Friday, Nov. 28 6:00 p.m. (22) Arizona State Wells Fargo Arena

FOLLOW THE CATS

T.V./Stream

USC - http://pac-12.com/videos/university-arizona

Arizona State - Pac-12 Networks

Live Stats

USC - http://statb.us/b/58756

Arizona State - http://www.thesundevils.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml

Live Updates: Twitter: @ArizonaVBall (twitter.com/ArizonaVBall)

QUICK HITS

- With the final week of the regular season upon it, Arizona is gearing up for one of the most important weeks in recent memory as UA hosts USC on Wednesday before travelling to ASU on Friday. Both matches begin at 6:00 p.m. MST.

- Arizona, which is currently 13th in the NCAA RPI, will look to upgrade its resume in the eyes of the committee as the Wildcats hope to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team NCAA Tournament will feature 16 host sites. The selection show will air on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. MST on ESPNU. Cats are looking to host their first NCAA action since 2002.

- The Wildcats’ 22 overall wins are already the most since 2005 (25) and the 11 Pac-12 victories are their most since 2011 (11).

- On Wednesday, Taylor Arizobal, Madi Kingdon, Ronni Lewis , Rachel Rhoades and Kennedy Wesley will be playing their final regular season match in McKale Center. The five Wildcats will be recognized with a ceremony before the match.

- Arizona is coming off of a split in the Pacific Northwest. UA fell to No. 5 Washington in straight sets before defeating Washington State in five.

- Against Washington State, Madi Kingdon had 22 kills and 34 digs, the fourth most digs in a single match in Arizona history. On the season, Kingdon has two matches with 20+ kills and 30+ digs, the only two in Arizona history. (Had 25 and 30 at Stanford on Nov. 7).

- Arizona has been able to ascend near the top of the Pac-12 standings despite ranking ninth in the conference with a .202 hitting percentage in Pac-12 play. The main reason? Arizona’s defense. The Wildcats average 17.64 digs/set this season, easily most in the Pac-12. Conference opponents are hitting just .199 in Pac-12 play. In conference play, Arizona is sixth in blocks (2.42/set) and first in digs (18.34/set). Arizona has crossed the century mark in digs in four matches.

- Entering this season, in the entire 36-year history of the program, there had only been 10 100+ dig matches in Arizona history (and only one which occurred in the last 14 years). In 2014 (in fact in Arizona’s past nine matches), Arizona has four 100+ dig matches. Additionally, Arizona entered this season with six total individual 30+ dig matches. Already in 2014, the Wildcats have three such matches, two by an outside hitter (Madi Kingdon) and one by a setter (Penina Snuka).

- This month, in five fewer matches, Arizona has already bettered its win total from October (five vs. four). The Cats have won five of their last seven matches, with the only losses in the span coming to top-five competition.

- Arizona has split seven of its last eight conference series, including last weekend’s split vs.

- On the season, Arizona is undefeated (20-0) this season when winning the third set and 2-9 when losing it.

- At the time of competition, Arizona has played the top three teams in the AVCA Top 25 (No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Washington), making it the only team in the country to do so.

- Arizona has had two winning streaks of six-or-more games through 26 games this season (six games from 8/29-9/6 and eight games from 9/13-10/3). Prior to this year, Arizona last won six straight games in 2011. The last time it had two six-plus game winning streaks in one season was 2005.

- The Wildcats began the season 15-2, tying their best record to start a season in program history.

- Arizona has three Pac-12 road sweeps in nine tries this season (9/26 at UCLA, 10/3 at Utah, 11/9 at Cal) after having just one total the last two seasons combined. The Wildcats’ five road conference victories in seven tries this season betters their 2013 total (two in 10 tries).

- Arizona is 12-3 at home, winning 39 of the 53 sets in McKale; UA is 10-5 on the road (away plus neutral).

- Madi Kingdon, who had 39 kills last week, is fourth in the country, averaging 5.23 kills per set.

- All eight of Arizona’s losses have come to teams currently ranked in the AVCA Top 25, with six of the losses coming to top-11 competition. On the season, UA is 3-6 against ranked competition (at the time of competition).

- This week, the Pac-12 landed eight teams in the AVCA Top 25, with 10 teams receiving votes. This comes after the conference had a record nine teams ranked (USC dropped out of the rankings).

- Madi Kingdon has been named one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. One/third of the voting is a fan vote, so be sure to vote for Kingdon (up to once per day) at seniorclassaward.com/vote/volleyball_2014/

OPPONENTS

USC: The Trojans (14-14, 7-11 Pac-12) will look to stabilize their season after dropping four consecutive matches, most recently at Oregon State and No. 14 Oregon in four sets each. The Trojans are one of the nation’s toughest serving teams, averaging 1.44 aces per set, led by Samantha Bricio, who is second in the country with .75 aces per set. Bricio also averages 4.18 kills/set, 36th in the country.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils (18-12, 8-10 Pac-12) experienced similar results as the Wildcats last weekend, being swept by Washington and downing Washington State in five sets. Overall, ASU has won just two of its last seven matches. The Sun Devils are fourth in the Pac-12, allowing opponents to hit just. 195 against them. ASU is led by Macey Gardner’s 4.30 kills/set (fifth in the Pac-12).

SERIES HISTORY

USC: The Trojans own a decisive 57-18 advantage in the all-time series. The teams split the two matches last season, but Arizona’s biggest victory in 2013 came in McKale Center on Oct. 20 when Arizona swept the top-ranked Trojans (27-25, 25-21, 25-21). USC returned the favor later in the year when it swept Arizona in Los Angeles on Nov. 22 (22-25, 14-25, 21-25). This is the first meeting between the Cats and the Trojans this year.

Arizona State: Arizona narrowly leads the all-time series 44-41. With its victory earlier in the year, Arizona is looking for its first sweep of the series since 2010, which is the last time Arizona won in Tempe. The Cats won a thriller in five sets earlier this season:

9/24/14 - Cats Take Down Devils in Thriller at McKale: In front of 3,547 fans at McKale Center, 18th-ranked Arizona volleyball defeated No. 19 Arizona State in a dramatic five-set thriller (21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 15-13) Wednesday night in the Pac-12 opener.

It was a game of comebacks and gritty performances, the first of which came from Arizona. After losing the first set, the Wildcats were slow out of the gates in the second, trailing 14-9 and watching the match’s momentum slip further and further to the side of the Sun Devils. The Cats fought back to win the set 25-22 to knot the match at a set apiece.

After winning the third set, Arizona led the match 2-1 and had controlled the majority of the fourth set. The Wildcats led the fourth 24-20, with the massive crowd backing their four match point opportunities. ASU scored the next five points and went on to win the set 27-25.

The Sun Devils carried that momentum into an early fifth-set lead, taking a 7-4 advantage before the Cats battled back. Back-and-forth, back-and-forth the rivals went until the set was tied at 13 each. An ASU attack error gave UA match point and a Halli Amaro kill gave Arizona the win.

HEAD COACH DAVE RUBIO: The longest active tenured volleyball coach in the Pac-12, Dave Rubio is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Arizona volleyball program. Rubio has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in 16 of his 22 seasons as the head coach, including four of the last five seasons. Rubio, who guided the 2000 club to a Pac-10 title and the 2001 squad to the Final Four, holds a 438-255 (.632) all-time record at Arizona.

THE RANKINGS: Arizona fell one spot to 14th in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll with its split last weekend. It marks the 13th straight week in the polls for the Cats, who are in the polls for the first time since being ranked 25th on Oct. 21, 2013. Arizona was ranked No. 13 ranking last week, its highest ranking since finishing the 2005 season ranked seventh. Arizona began the season unranked. The Wildcats are one of eight Pac-12 teams in the poll, making it the most represented conference in the poll.

LAST TIME OUT: The Wildcats split their weekend in the Evergreen State, being swept by Washington on Friday (20-25, 17-25, 19-25) before outlasting Washington State in five sets on short rest less than 24 hours later (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 29-31, 15-8). The Cats were not at 100%, missing an injured Ashley Harris against Washington and missing Penina Snuka the majority of the weekend after she injured her knee in the first set against the Huskies. Taylor Arizobal had 29 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Madi Kingdon added 39 kills and 46 digs, including 34 digs vs. Washington State, the fourth most digs in a match in school history.

11/21/14 - No. 13 Arizona Falls to Fifth-Ranked Washington: No. 13 Arizona volleyball, which spent the majority of the match without the services of setter and reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Penina Snuka, who injured her knee early in the first set, fell to fifth-ranked Washington in straight sets on Friday night (20-25, 17-25, 19-25).

Junior Whitney Hunt was solid in place of Snuka, but the Wildcats struggled defensively without the Gilbert, Ariz., native, who averaged over four digs per set entering the match. Washington hit .346 in the match while UA managed just a .174 hitting percentage in the match. Hunt finished with 31 assists.

UA was led by Madi Kingdon’s 17 kills. Kingdon’s night marked the 106th double-digit-kill match in her career, setting a new Arizona record. The senior also added 12 digs for her fifth consecutive double-double.

11/22/14 - Cats Earn Five-Set Victory over Washington State: No. 13 Arizona volleyball outlasted Washington State in five sets (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 29-31, 15-8) to earn a split of the Washington schools and improve to 22-8 on the season.

The Cats got it done both offensively and defensively, as UA accumulated 109 digs, the seventh most in school history, marking the fourth time this season that the Cats have crossed the century mark in digs.

UA was led by Madi Kingdon’s 34 digs, the fourth most in Arizona history. The senior added 22 kills. Kingdon now owns the only two 20+ kill and 30+ dig matches in Arizona history (also did it earlier this year vs. Stanford).

Ashley Harris and Taylor Arizobal were outstanding for Arizona, which leaned heavily on the offense to secure the win in Pullman. Arizona hit .274 in the match, its highest hitting percentage in a match to go more than three sets this season.

Harris tied a season and career high with 19 kills, hitting .340 while doing so. Arizobal posted similar numbers, killing a season-high 18 balls on a robust .356 hitting percentage.

THE MADI KINGDON FILE: The citations keep coming in for senior outside hitter Madi Kingdon, who was named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, joining her 2014 honors as preseason all-Pac-12 and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (week 1). The senior, who is second in the Pac-12 in kills with 549 and is fourth in the NCAA with 5.23 kills/set, is on pace to leave Arizona in the career top 10 in six different categories (matches played, sets played, kills, 10+ kill matches, 20+ kill matches and attempts). Should Kingdon, who has played in all but two matches in her Arizona career, play in 31 matches this season (Arizona has 31 regular season matches scheduled), Kingdon will leave Arizona as the all-time leader in matches played. Additionally, Kingdon (437 sets played) moved into the top 10 last week and is 10 sets from catching Bre Ladd for Arizona’s all-time record. The senior has registered 1,858 kills as a Wildcat, already the third most in UA history (one shy of No. 2). Kingdon has recorded 10 or more kills in 107 of her career 125 matches, including all 30 matches this season, the most in Arizona history, while her 26 20-plus-kill matches are third all-time. Additionally, Kingdon’s 5,424 attempts rank first. Below is a complete list of Kingdon’s awards:

2014

Senior CLASS Award finalist (10 players)

Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (9/1)

Preseason All-Pac-12

2013

AVCA All-America (Honorable Mention)

AVCA All-Region (First Team)

All-Pac-12 (First team)

Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (10/21 & 9/23)

2012

All-Pac-12 (Honorable Mention)

RESPECT YOUR ELDERS: Arizona’s success this season will hinge greatly on the play and leadership of its senior class. All-American outside hitter Madi Kingdon will again be Arizona’s force on the outside while Ronni Lewis (libero), Rachel Rhoades (middle blocker) and Taylor Arizobal (outside hitter) provide Arizona with strength in experience and ability. The four, four-year Wildcats are joined this season by Kennedy Wesley (defensive specialist) a graduate transfer from Gonzaga who will be in the mix at libero for the Wildcats.

NEW DIGS: Historic McKale Center received a roughly-$30 million facelift prior to the 2014 season. The first phase of the multi-phase renovation included brand new seats in the arena, a new court, a new state-of-the-art video board, new LED screens around the arena, upgraded concessions and bathrooms in the concourse (still in progress) and a new locker room complete with a lounge area and kitchenette. Head coach Dave Rubio said of the facility, “Our goal was to have the nicest, most state-of-the-art locker room in the country. I think, thanks to our administration, that is exactly what we got. It’s pretty exciting and beautiful.”

FRESH FACES: Arizona has six newcomers this season, three freshmen and three Division I transfers. The exciting freshman class, which holds a lot of promise down the road consists of Brooke Dougherty, Brianna Houghton and Jade Turner. The transfers, who will all see action in 2014, are Whitney Hunt (Weber State), Kalei Mau (Minnesota) and Kennedy Wesley (Gonzaga).

UP NEXT: Arizona will learn its postseason fate on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. MST. The selection show will air live on ESPNU.