Now things get more difficult
Before the season, the Arizona volleyball coaching staff introduced a new concept to the players. They broke down the season into five “sets.” Set one was preseason training. Set two was nonconference play. Sets three and four will be the two halves of conference play. All of that is to get to set five: postseason play.
Saturday’s match against Southern Utah wrapped up set two. It was one more opportunity to fine tune things before the first Big 12 match next Wednesday. That was important but just as important was getting the win against the Thunderbirds and finishing the nonconference season 11-0. The Wildcats did that with a sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-20).
“I’m excited,” said Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs. “We just finished set two, what we were saying to ourselves, and now we’re going to prepare to play Big 12 clubs. So we’ll enjoy it for the rest of the day, and then it’s over and done with.”
Stubbs laid out some of her objectives before the match. She wanted to work on blocking, especially cutting off the line, in preparation for some of the players they will face next week at Baylor and TCU. She also wanted to get some court time for a few players.
Playing time is crucial because Arizona could need some of the players who haven’t played much during the nonconference season. While sophomore middle blocker Journey Tucker was available after missing Thursday’s match against North Dakota State, senior defensive specialist Ava Tortorello is still awaiting the results of an MRI she had done Saturday morning.
Arizona also lost outside hitter/opposite Sydnie Vanek late in Thursday’s match when she came down on top of the volleyball after an attack. Stubbs expects her to be out “at least a couple more weeks.”
Stubbs believes Tucker will be important when the team starts facing Big 12 competition, but she has started senior Alayna Johnson in the past three matches. Johnson has risen to the occasion by getting five or more blocks in two of those matches. She led the team with five total blocks against SUU.
That’s promising, but Johnson is still trying to strengthen that part of her game.
“I’m happy that I’m definitely improving,” Johnson said. “I’m still trying to improve more, get my blocks up. That was my main goal, actually, this beginning of season. Just be able to get my blocks up, because, in the past, I have not been the leading blocker on the team or anything like that.”
In addition to blocking, Johnson made an impact on the attacking game. She had six kills on .556 hitting.
Jaelyn Hodge had another strong match on the right side. She played just two sets for the second straight outing but was the most effective attacker during that time. Hodge ended her day with eight kills and three total blocks for 9.5 points. She hit .350 and added four digs in her two sets of play.
“Jaelyn is in a good place, and she understands what is required of her,” Stubbs said. “I think she knows what she needs to do. The key is for her to be able to practice the entire time so that she would feel comfortable going out there, versus pushing the panic button too soon.”
With Hodge playing limited sets and Vanek out with an injury, Amanda DeWitt started the third set. The senior, who transferred from South Florida this offseason, had two kills and three total blocks in her time on the floor.
“I was excited,” Stubbs said. “Amanda is very athletic. For her, it’s just a matter of catching up to the speed of the game that takes place at our level versus where she came from. Physically, she can do it. It’s just a matter of getting her brain to do it.”
With Vanek expected to be out for at least the next two weeks, DeWitt could see her time as a sub increase. That will require DeWitt to stretch even further.
DeWitt is an opposite by trade, but Vanek has played on both the left and right sides. That made Vanek a possibility to sub for either Hodge at opposite or Carlie Cisneros or Jordan Wilson at outside hitter.
“We have depth in that situation,” Stubbs said. “Amanda has been training on the right more than she’s on the left, but she’s working that in. It limits what we have if Jordan or Carlie gets in a trouble situation.”
Stubbs didn’t sub DeWitt for either of her outside hitters in this match, but she might have if she had more options.
Cisneros led the team on both offense and defense. The freshman had the third double-double of her career with 11 kills and 13 digs. She hit .391, the second-highest hitting percentage of her young career, and threw in an ace for 12 points. On serve receive, she led the team in receptions with 21.
Wilson had a more difficult match. She accounted for nine kills but she had six hitting errors, ending with a .107 hitting percentage. She also had difficulty with her serve, getting three errors in 11 attempts. She did contribute on defense, though, going for eight digs and two total blocks.
Overall, Stubbs was not sure she saw everything she wanted in the match. The team went in with the intention of working on defending the shot down the line. The head coach believes they must improve on that before facing Baylor and TCU next week. She was encouraged by what she saw against the Thunderbirds.
“Okay, okay, not bad,” Stubbs said. “But there’s still a lot of things that we need to do in regards to it and not show it so soon sometimes. Sometimes we get in our head this is what she wants us to do, this is what we need to do, and then they show it too soon. So disguise a little bit more.”
There’s not a lot of time to work on it. The players will have Sunday off. Monday will be their only full practice at home before leaving for Texas on Tuesday. Wednesday brings the Big 12 opener at No. 20 Baylor. Friday will take them to Fort Worth to face No. 23 TCU and Melanie Parra, one of the best players in the country.
“I’m excited for the new competition,” Johnson said.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics