Before the season, the Arizona volleyball coaching staff divided the term into five “sets.” The fifth set was the postseason. While the Wildcats (20-9, 9-9 Big 12) didn’t get to the version of set five that they wanted, they did push through to the final set in some form with an appearance in the NIVC.
What does it mean? How did they deal with the disappointment? What kind of opposition will they face in the NIVC? What do they want to get out of it?
Getting to “Set 5” but falling short of the NCAA Tournament
The Wildcats had specific things they wanted to accomplish in each set. Set one, which was the extremely soft nonconference slate, was to learn how to mesh and win together.
Arizona has some experience but it also has four young players performing critical roles. Even the experience wasn’t necessarily experienced as a group. Arizona had just one player returning to play the same position for the Wildcats that she played last year. That was outside hitter Jordan Wilson.
Jaelyn Hodge returned, but she switched from the left side to the right side. Haven Wray returned, but she took a huge step up in responsibility by becoming one of Arizona’s full-time liberos rather than a defensive specialist who played a few points per match. Journey Tucker and Alayna Johnson returned, but Tucker became a starter and Johnson took a backup role in the middle.
Over half of Arizona’s initial eight had never been regular starters in college: freshman OH Carlie Cisneros, freshman libero Brenna Ginder, freshman setter Avery Scoggins, sophomore MB Tucker, and senior libero Wray. A sixth starter—senior MB Kiari Robey—is playing her first and only year at Arizona.
Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs knows the selection committee held the Wildcats’ nonconference schedule against them. However, she felt that it was precisely what the team needed to “learn to win,” especially coming off an eight-win season last year.
She’s also not sure why the tough matches played in conference didn’t carry more weight than they did. The Big 12 was tied with the ACC as far as teams in the top 25 of RPI. The Big Ten and SEC were tied with each other just ahead of the other two major leagues. The other three Power 4 leagues put nine teams apiece in the tournament. The Big 12 got just six.
“It was probably the most painful moment that I’ve been in with the team, as we sat there and watched and whatnot,” Stubbs said. “And then once they were finished, we kind of turned the television off, and I walked forward and walked backwards, walked forward, because I wasn’t prepared for that. And then you just speak from the heart and let them know that we feel your pain and we understand we did everything that we thought we were capable of doing to get there.”
Stubbs noted that while some committee members may hold weak nonconference schedules against teams because they theoretically choose those game, it’s not always the case that a coach has a wide range of choices.
“In theory, you have a choice,” Stubbs said. “But in some situations, you don’t have a choice. Some people can’t play far away, or some people can’t get invited to the right tournaments. Or it’s just a metric that they use, and it’s a safe bet, because they were never going to go back and say, I messed up or made the wrong decision. Not that I would expect them to do that, either. So you just listen to what they say, and you put yourself in a position to, once again, not be in that position.”
Even Arizona’s NIVC opponent is surprised that the Wildcats didn’t make it.
“My personal opinion is I think they had the resume to be in the other tournament,” Pacific head coach Greg Gibbons said.
Why the NIVC?
Some teams choose to forego the NIVC, especially when they are so close to getting into the NCAA Tournament. The three teams playing opening-round NIVC matches in Tucson share some of the same reasons for deciding to play.
Stubbs noted the youth of her team and how she wants to get more experience for them. On the other hand, there are seniors and grad students who will get to play at least one more match in McKale Center. That’s important, too.
“Rita told us she’s doing it for us because we’re so young and it’d be a waste, but honestly, we’re doing it so our seniors can leave off on a good foot,” Cisneros said. “I mean, we finished conference really well. We finished off really well, and it’s really important to us that we give our seniors the perfect goodbye, and so we just want to play with each other one last time.”
Youth was the reason Weber State decided to play, as well. They were inconsistent in their five-set loss to Pacific on Friday. That is often a hallmark of young teams. As WSU head coach Jeremiah Larsen noted, he will return almost his entire roster next season.
“I’m losing two seniors that are full-time starters,” Larsen said. “I’m losing a backup opposite, so I only lose three kids on my team. And so we’re trying to figure out how to play meaningful games. And so anytime we can get a meaningful game so we can learn and grow is going to help us in the long run. So I’m always happy to play in this game, as long as our kids are engaged and want to play in it.”
Gibbons and Pacific (19-12, 8-10 WCC) are on the other extreme. Six of their 17 players are seniors or graduate students.
“Any opportunity there is to compete—that’s why we love this game,” Gibbons said. “And for some of our seniors and graduates, some of them aren’t going on to play professionally, this is it. So the fact that we get to have another opportunity, and selfishly, get to be with these girls a little bit longer. I got five days in the gym with them extra and now here’s the icing, right here, is we get to come out here and compete. And now, what the heck, we get to go and play Arizona. I think Arizona is a phenomenal team.”
Which Pacific Tigers do the Wildcats have to watch out for?
The NIVC provides the opportunity for all of them to play more matches and be together, but WCC Player of the Year Alexa Edwards has a special place in Gibbons’ heart. She will also be someone the Wildcats have to keep a close eye on.
The fifth-year outside hitter became the all-time leader in career kills for both the WCC and Pacific this season. She had 4.33 kills per set in conference play and 4.35 k/s overall this season.
“She grew up playing club for me since she was 14, and here she is,” Gibbons said. “I mean, she’s a special person. Her mom is, was a very dear, dear friend, and then in this past year, she passed away. So for Alexa to be doing what she’s doing, I mean, to be rewarded as a conference player of the year, and potentially an All-American…her mom is looking down from heaven extremely happy at what she’s done in her career.”
Emily Van Groningen provides firepower from the middle. The 6-foot-2 junior was All-WCC honorable mention this year. She was second on the team with 2.10 k/s this season and hit .265. She also accounted for 0.71 blocks per set. She averages 2.78 points per set.
She was even better against Weber State on Friday afternoon. Van Groningen matched her career high with 16 kills. She was an incredibly efficient .452, committing just two hitting errors on 31 swings.
“Emily better be important tomorrow,” Gibbons said. “I mean, our success depends a lot on Emily. I mean, everyone it depends on. Obviously we gotta up our game tomorrow. Our players gotta really live the roles. I mean, some did so much today, but we still found a way to be successful. But Emily’s a big piece of that offense, a big blocking presence. Emily is an ultra competitor, so we need that and the rest of the team to take on the roles and bring that ultra competitiveness, because we’re about ready to walk into something very different than what we just walked into.”
What’s the history between Arizona and Pacific?
The Wildcats and the Tigers have played 12 times stretching back to 1980. During that period, Pacific leads the series 5-7.
The two teams have played five times in the rally-scoring era (2001-present). Arizona is 4-1 in the modern era with two matches played in McKale Center, two matches played at neutral sites, and one match played on the Tigers’ court. The Wildcats won the last matchup 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19) on Aug. 26, 2023 in Tucson.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics