Wildcat Wrap: Arizona picks up big wins in football, volleyball and soccer

The football season is alive and is showing signs of salvation. Volleyball, despite a plethora of injuries, kept its postseason hopes afloat. Soccer went to Tempe and handed the Sun Devils an “L.”

Here is a recap of the week that was for the Arizona Wildcats.

Let us know in the comments if we missed anything.

In the department

• An $8 million commitment from Cole and Jeannie Davis towards the construction of an indoor sports center was announced Friday. The facility, to be named the Cole and Jeannie Davis Sports Center, will include an indoor football practice field. The financial commit helped achieve the $18 million goal UA staff set for it. Completion of facility is scheduled for January.

Volleyball

• For whatever reason, the injury bug is feasting on the squad.
• Entering its match with Washington State on Friday, UA (18-8, 7-7 Pac-12) was already without its best player senior Kendra Dahlke and fellow starter redshirt sophomore Elizabeth Shelton. But sophomores Katie Smoot and Candice Denny met the adversity head-on with career highs in kills as the ‘Cats rallied to beat the Cougars in five sets. Smoot had 22 kills, Denny 14.
• However juniors Devyn Cross and Makenna Martin left the game with injuries. Cross left in the third set with a concussion; Martin left in the fourth with a groin injury.
• The mounting injuries are coming at the worst time as UA is trying to keep its postseason hopes alive. UA is in the Top 25 of the AVCA poll but is No. 43 in RPI.
• Coach Dave Rubio said UA most likely will need to have an RPI in the 30s to earn a postseason bid.
• Down four starters, the ‘Cats couldn’t complete the sweep of the Washington schools as they lost to Washington on Sunday in four sets, 3-1.
• Arizona heads to the Rocky Mountains with a match against Utah on Friday and then Sunday in Boulder against Colorado.

Soccer

• Arizona wrapped up the regular season by beating ASU 1-0 in Tempe. The Wildcats will learn their postseason fate Monday afternoon. More than likely they will be hosting the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They finished the regular season 12-5-2 overall and 5-4-2 in the Pac-12.
• More good news: one of their best scorers, Brooke Wilson, is set to practice Monday for the first time since breaking her leg in September. She is hoping to play in the postseason, albeit in a limited role.

Softball

• The ‘Cats concluded their fall ball season with a sweep of Pima College. UA beat Pima 8-0 on Monday, 10-0 on Wednesday. The two games were makeups from a few weeks ago.
• One storyline from the fall season was the little usage of redshirt junior Alyssa Palomino. Palomino, the Pac-12 leader in home runs last season, only had four at-bats during the fall. She was out with a concussion, but the coaching staff may also be looking to preserve her for the regular season. She has suffered two ACL tears in the past three years.
• UA begins its regular season in February.
• Coach Mike Candrea was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday night. Candrea, the UA coach with the most national titles, is now enshrined in five halls of fame. Last year, Candrea was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame.
• Congrats to former UA pitchers Danielle O’ Toole and Michelle Floyd on their tremendous wins this week. Floyd and the Venezuela National Softball team won the South American Championship on Friday. Floyd was named best pitcher and MVP of the tournament. Overseas, O’ Toole and the USA Softball Women’s National Team beat Chinese Taipei and Australia in the opening games of the Japan Cup.
• O’ Toole and Jessica Moore no-hit Chinese Taipei as Team USA won 10-0 in four innings.
• Two of the best pitchers in the Pac-12 last year transferred in October, and it should benefit the ‘Cats this season.

Baseball

• UA hosts BYU on Saturday morning for a 24-inning (yes, really) exhibition.
• Last week, the ‘Cats won both games against Cal State Fullerton in a 22-inning game. Freshmen Ryan Holgate, Austin Wells, Branden Boissiere, and Dayton Dooney combined to go 13-27 from the plate, three homeruns and 12 RBIs against Fullerton.
• UA great Bobby Dalbec made the Arizona Fall League Fall Stars game.

Swimming and Diving

• Both men and women lost against USC on Saturday. UA men lost 155-140, the women 174-123.
• Junior Hannah Cox won the 1,000 free with a time of 10:05.11. She’s undefeated in the event this season.
• Junior Thomas Anderson, senior Matt Salerno, senior Chatham Dobbs, and freshman Marin Ercegovic were runners-up with a 1:30.10 time in the men’s 200 medley relay. The women’s relay team of freshman Aria Bernal, junior Mallory Korenwinder, senior Mackenzie Rumrill, and Cox placed second with a 1:41.98 time.
• Both squads are in Flagstaff from Nov. 16-18 for the Lumberjack Diving Invitational.
• Salerno was awarded the male Pac-12 Leadership Award on Sunday. A 3K post-graduation scholarship is attached to the award.

Women’s Basketball

• Freshman Cate Reese gave an appetizer of her talents on Monday in an exhibition against Eastern New Mexico. She finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds to help the UA women win 88-31.
• The ‘Cats play their final exhibition game Monday against Western New Mexico. The regular season starts Friday at home against Idaho State.

Men’s Tennis

• UA went 5-5 in singles action and 3-1 in doubles to conclude the Jack Kramer Invitational in California on Sunday. Sophomores Igor Karpovets and Aaro Pollanen lost to David Goulak and Ivan Thamma of UC Davis in the double finals. Freshman Conner Olsen finished with a 2-1 singles record, 1-2 in doubles.
• The team is in Surprise Wednesday-Sunday for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.

Women’s Tennis

• Day three of Jack Kramer Invitational on Saturday afternoon saw sophomore Gitte Heynemans and junior Marie Van Aelst win their singles matches to qualify for the consolation bracket.

Cross Country

• Senior Addi Zerrenner was named All-Pac-12 Cross-Country Second team on Tuesday.
• She placed 10th at the Pac-12 Championships on Oct. 26.
• Zerrenner and the team are in Sacramento, California on Friday for the NCAA West Regional.

Women’s Golf

• There was a rematch of the national championship on Halloween. The ‘Cats faced Alabama in the consolation match of the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, but the Crimson Tide got the better of UA this time as they won 3-2.
• Senior Haley Moore and sophomore Yu-Sang Hou were victorious for UA.
• The women are racking-up the frequent flyer miles as they’re in Hawaii Monday through Wednesday for the Pac-12 Preview.

Football

• UA (5-5, 4-3 Pac-12) outlasted Colorado on Friday night 42-34 to head into its bye-week riding a two-game winning streak.
• From a season that looked bleak, to one that has the possibility of a bowl game, UA football is playing like many fans anticipated it would at the beginning of the season. Check out our football section for all our postgame coverage.
• UA takes on Mike Leach and Washington State on Nov. 17. The ‘Cats will be wanting to play spoiler as they look to ruin WSU’s (slim) chances of making the college football playoff.
• Coach Kevin Sumlin continued to beef up the offensive line by getting Jamari Williams to commit to UA on Thursday. Williams, a Florida native, is 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds. He decommitted from Louisville early Thursday. The 2019 class is ranked 58th in the county, eighth in conference.

Men’s Basketball

• The team had fans on Twitter using their fingers fiercely as Chaminade gave UA a closer than expected exhibition game, but the ‘Cats got the win 75-64. We have a recap of Sunday’s game plus some other postgame stuff in our basketball section.
• Freshman Brandon Williams scored 23 points and went 4-8 from the 3-point line. Sophomore Brandon Randolph scored 19 and hit four 3-pointers.
• UA opens the regular season Wednesday at home against Houston Baptist.

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