TUCSON - Sixteenth-ranked Arizona volleyball remained unbeaten with straight-set victories over Florida A&M (25-12, 25-14, 25-19) and Cal State Northridge (26-24, 25-14, 25-15). It marks the second consecutive season Arizona has started the year 6-0.
Halli Amaro was named the Arizona Invitational Most Outstanding Player while Penina Snuka and Mackenzie Kleespies were named to the all-tournament team.
Match 1 - Arizona 3, Florida A&M 0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-19)
In Saturday's first match, sixteenth-ranked Arizona volleyball defeated Florida A&M in straight sets (25-12, 25-14, 25-19) to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Kalei Mau led the Wildcats with 10 kills on .350 hitting while Nikki Attea provided nine kills and three aces.
UA limited Florida A&M to a .099 hitting percentage. UA has kept all five of its opponents this season under .100.
Arizona overwhelmed Florida A&M in the first set, downing the Rattlers 25-12. The Cats limited FAMU to a .029 hitting percentage in the first, while the Cats posted a .289 figure. Kalei Mau led the way with five kills on just 10 swings.
It was more of the same in the second as the Cats cruised to a 25-14 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Nikki Attea, who entered the match with one service ace on the season, notched three in the frame. Arizona hit .435 to Florida A&M's .154.
With some of Arizona's reserves in the lineup for set 3, Florida A&M was strong out of the gate, leading the Wildcats 7-4 in the early going. A 5-0 run put Arizona ahead for good. The Cats broke away and won the third set 25-19. Tyler Spriggs led Arizona with four kills on an errorless six swings.
Match 2 - Arizona 3, Cal State Northridge 0 (26-24, 25-14, 25-15)
Penina Snuka stuffed the statsheet, helping Arizona take down Cal State Northridge in the Arizona Invitational finale in straight sets (26-24, 25-14, 25-15).
Snuka posted 37 assists, seven digs and seven blocks to pace the Wildcats.
Kalei Mau tallied a career-high 15 kills while Nikki Attea added nine on .261 hitting and Tournament Most Outstanding Player Halli Amaro picked up seven kills on just 11 swings.
Arizona outblocked CSUN 13-6.5 in the contest, led by seven each from Snuka and Amaro. The seven stuffs from Snuka were a career best while Amaro's seven were a season high.
The Wildcats limited Cal State Northridge to .066 hitting. Arizona has kept all six of its opponents under .100 hitting. UA posted a .294 hitting percentage.
Libero Mackenzie Kleespies led Arizona with 13 digs.
After little separated Arizona and Cal State Northridge through the first 15 points of the first set, Arizona used a 7-0 run to turn an 8-7 deficit to a 14-8 lead. The Cats stretched their lead to 18-12 before a 9-1 Matador run put CSUN on top 21-19. Arizona then scored the next five points to get to set point before CSUN scored three straight to tie it. UA broke away with back-to-back points to win the first set 26-24.
The Wildcats removed the drama from the second set, leading wire-to-wire and taking the second set 25-14. Mau dominated the set with eight kills on 16 swings.
Arizona downed Cal State Northridge 25-15 in the third.
All-Tournament Team
Arizona (3-0)
Halli Amaro (Most Outstanding Player)
Mackenzie Kleespies
Penina Snuka
Cal State Northridge (1-2)
Katie Sato
Jess Hess
South Dakota (2-1)
Sydney Dimke
Brittany Jessen
Florida A&M (0-3)
Valentina Carrasco
Pamela Soriano
Up Next: Arizona heads to Long Island, N.Y. for the Blackbird Invitational where it will meet Syracuse and No. 22 Ohio State in addition host LIU Brooklyn. The event takes place Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12.
Follow Arizona Volleyball: For further coverage of Arizona volleyball, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow the team's Twitter and Instagram accounts (@ArizonaVBall).
