The University of Arizona volleyball team (11-2, 0-2 in Big 12) returns to Tucson this week to take on No. 20 BYU in the Wildcats’ first Big 12 home game of the season on Wednesday, Oct. 2, in McKale Center.
The Wildcats have yet to win a conference game this season, comiing off a two-game losing streak against No. 19 Baylor University and No. 22 Texas Christian University.
History vs. BYU
Arizona has a 12-15 total record against BYU. The two programs first met in 1977 with the Wildcats losing 3-0. The Wildcats and the Cougars last saw each other 10 years ago, meeting back on Dec. 5, 2014, where Arizona fell short 3-1. That loss ended Arizona’s season, marking 24 victories and 10 losses in 2014.
BYU this year
BYU has begun its season with a 9-3 overall record and a 2-0 conference record. The Cougars opened conference play by beating the University of Colorado, Boulder 3-1 and sweeping Texas Tech University 3-0 last week coming into this matchup against Arizona.
The Cougars are led by Claire Little who puts up 3.92 kills per set and averages a .324 hitting percentage. Little is coming off a 14 total kill game in the victory against Texas Tech. In the same game, middle blocker Kjersti Strong finished with 12 kills following Little. Strong averages 2.28 kills per set and leads BYU with a .385 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Strong continues to dominate for BYU, averaging 1.26 blocks per set. The Cougars are led in blocks by Brielle Kemavor, who puts up 1.43 blocks per set.
Wildcats to watch
Despite the loss against TCU, Arizona was led by Kiari Robey who finished the night off with 9 kills. As we move through the first five weeks of the season, Robey leads the Wildcats with a .450 hitting percentage, making her the third best in the Big 12.
Jaelyn Hodge continues to lead Arizona with 3.76 kills per set, ranking sixth in the Big 12, and Jordan Wilson follows closely behind, averaging 3.20 kills per set.
Defensively, Carlie Cisneros continues to impress as the freshman leads Arizona with 3.32 digs per set, totaling 27 digs in her last three games. Additionally, Cisneros is third in leading the Wildcats in kills, averaging 2.66 kills per set.
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