Wildcat Wrap: Nico Mannion commits, football wins, volleyball and soccer set for Pac-12 play

It’s Monday, which means it’s time to recap the week that was in the Arizona Wildcats athletic department.

Some quick highlights include: soccer and volleyball completing non-conference play with just one loss, Dave Rubio pickup up his 500th career win, Arizona football/Kevin Sumlin getting their first win, and Arizona basketball adding a commitment from five-star point guard Nico Mannion.

Let’s get into the rest of this week’s Wildcat Wrap. (As always, let us know in the comments if we missed anything.)

Volleyball

• The ‘Cats weren’t going to prolong getting head coach Dave Rubio’s 500th career win any longer. After UA (11-1) got Rubio win No. 499 Friday morning with an opening match 3-0 win over UT Martin at the Wildcat Classic, they got a rematch with New Mexico State, whom were the first team to beat the ‘Cats this season.
• The Aggies bested the ‘Cats last weekend in New Mexico, but the ladies in red, white and blue were out for more than payback: they were out to write history.
• UA took set one 25-18 but needed some McKale magic to come away with set two. Down 21-11, freshman Whittnee Nihipali came off the bench and sparked a 5-2 run. The ‘Cats clawed their way back in the form of 9-1 run to win the set 26-24. Set three brought history as UA won the set and match to put Rubio among UA legends.
• UA won the tournament on Saturday afternoon, beating UC Davis 3-0. Here are some things we learned from the weekend.
• The ‘Cats open conference play on Thursday night when Arizona State makes its way down to the Old Pueblo.

Soccer

• It was a light week for Arizona soccer who beat Cal State Fullerton 2-1 in their lone match of the weekend. The Wildcats are 7-1 as they enter Pac-12 play, their best start under Coach Tony Amato, and their seven-game winning streak is their longest since 2004.
• The bad news is they will be without star freshman Brooke Wilson for the next four to five weeks. The forward had three goals and an assist in seven games.
• However, fellow freshman Emily Knous was named to TopDrawerSoccer’s Team of the Week. She has four goals and two assists this season after enrolling early in the spring. Here’s our feature on her.
• Arizona opens conference play at No. 1 Stanford on Friday. The Cardinal had won 29 games in a row before they tied No. 7 Santa Clara on Sunday.

Track and Field

• The men’s and women’s cross-country teams were victorious on Saturday at the Dave Murray Invitational, as both squads placed first. The women scored 31 points, while the men had 20. Senior Addi Zerrenner won the event for the second-straight year and redshirt junior Carlos Villarreal won the men’s 6K.
• The teams run again on Sept. 29 in Chicago at the Loyola Invite.

Women’s Golf

• The defending national champions added Justin Bubser as an assistant coach on Monday. Bubser played collegiate golf at New Mexico Junior College and Western New Mexico University. He was an assistant golf professional at Alto Lakes Golf & County Club in Ruidoso, New Mexico and held the same position in at Omni Tucson National Resort.
• The defending champs will complete in the ANNIKA Invitational on Monday in Minneapolis. UA returns all its key contributors from last season: Haley Moore, Bianca Pagdanganan, Gigi Stoll, Sandra Nordaas, Yu-Sang Hou, and Desiree Hong

Tee times for tomorrow (all times MST):
7:50 a.m. - Sandra Nordaas
8:00 a.m. - Yu-Sang Hou
8:10 a.m. - Gigi Stoll
8:20 a.m. - Haley Moore
8:30 a.m. - Bianca Pagdanganan#BearDown

— Arizona Women's Golf (@ArizonaWGolf) September 17, 2018

Men’s Tennis

• Freshmen Jared Horwood and Connor Olsen went 1-1 in singles and doubles play over the weekend in Las Cruces, New Mexico at the Aggie invitational. The tennis court ‘Cats swing again on Friday in the Wildcat Invitational.

Baseball

• It was a great week for many UA alums in the minor leagues.
• Alex Mejia and Kevin Ginkel saw minor league postseason action. Mejia, who is with Triple-A the Memphis Redbirds, hit the game-tying hit in the 10th inning to help his club win the Pacific Coast League championship on Sunday.
• Ginkel, in Double-A with the Jackson Generals, closed out the series for the club to win the Southern League Championship.
• This adds more accolades for Ginkel, who has had honors come his way the last few weeks. From being named the August Arizona Diamondback Pitcher of the Month, to being selected to play in the Arizona Fall League along with UA alum Bobby Dalbec.
• Speaking of Dalbec, he was named MVP of the Carolina League on Thursday. He ended his season with 26 homeruns, 85 RBIs and a .573 slugging percentage. Former UA great J.J. Matijevic made the Carolina League postseason All-Star team. Matijevic’s team, the Buies Creek Astros, won the league championship.
• But Dalbec wasn’t done racking in the awards, however. On Friday he was named the Boston Red Sox minor league offensive and defensive player of the year.
• UA legend Rob Refsnyder hit a homerun in his second-straight game on Wednesday night to even the Governor’s cup series. Refsnyder and the Durham Bulls are playing for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders for the cup. The cup is given to the champion of the International League, a level of Triple-A baseball.
• Arizona’s 2018 recruiting class was No. ranked 13 in the nation by Baseball America.

Softball

• Arizona softball went through some intense training

What were we up to the last two days? Take a look.#BearDown | @theprogramorg pic.twitter.com/8BPTUdYEgT

— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) September 12, 2018

Football

• It may have not been pretty and many fans watching on TV probably had one eye open in the second half, but football got its first win of the season, a 62-31 rout of Southern Utah on Saturday night. Khalil Tate put up some monster numbers.
• Be sure to head to our football section for all types of postgame coverage and reaction. The Wildcats head into conference play Saturday against the Oregon State Beavers.
• Ex-Arizona offensive line Gerhard de Beer was released from the Buffalo Bills’ practice squad on Tuesday.
• Dane Cruikshank scored his first NFL touchdown on a fake punt!

Titans Get Tricky #TitanUp pic.twitter.com/93G9c4v4Qv

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 16, 2018

Basketball

• October will not only have a plethora of pumpkin flavored everything, it will also have a constellation of recruits on campus.
• Five-star forward Josh Green is scheduled for an official visit on Oct. 12. Should Green stick around until that Sunday, he would be in town for the Red-Blue Game.
• Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Green’s IMG Academy teammate, has an official visit set for the game, too.
• Junior college forward Khalid Thomas has an official visit planned for Oct.5.
• However, the biggest news came Friday afternoon when Nico Mannion committed to the ‘Cats. Mannion had unofficial and official visits scheduled in October, but it appears he didn’t want to wait until then to get fans excited. Mannion had cut his list to Arizona and Marquette a few weeks ago.
• Here is what Mannion’s commitment means for Arizona, and here are 6 things to know about him.
• Former guard Kobi Simmons signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. He was recently released by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Very grateful and thankful for young Nico Mannion. Kid is very special... And... We are just getting started... pic.twitter.com/B5KJrgME0u

— Ryan Silver (@RyanSilver1) September 15, 2018

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