Despite going 1-1 in its most recent road trip, the Arizona volleyball team held firm at No. 15 in the latest edition of the AVCA coaches poll. Arizona volleyball head coach Dave Rubio should appreciate that, considering how poorly the team played against Oregon in its defeat.

That game against the Ducks saw Arizona commit 22 attack errors and record a team hitting percentage of just .079. Oregon went on to sweep Arizona in straight sets, limiting the Wildcats to less than 20 points each set.

Luckily for the Wildcats, they handled Oregon State in an impressive fashion, saving their No. 15 national ranking.

The Beavers had a miniscule team hitting percentage of .061, and other than an explosive second set, played much like Arizona did against Oregon. The Wildcats recorded 109 digs, the most in the conference this year and sixth most in program history.

To be fair, Arizona was helped out by the No. 16, 18 and 19 ranked teams from last week all falling, thus making it highly unlikely that the Wildcats would slide down the rankings.

Kingdon named as award finalist

Arizona senior outside hitter Madi Kingdon just continues to rack up the accolades during her final season as a Wildcat. According to an Arizona volleyball press release, Kingdon was named one of the 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS award. The award is given to the top senior in each sport, taking into account aspects both on and off the court.

According to the press release, the award covers four categories: classroom, character, community and competition.

During her senior season, Kingdon leads the Wildcats in kills (394), kills per set (5.32), total attacks (1087) and total points (432.5).

Kingdon was named one of the 30 original candidates for the award in September and will have to wait until December to hear if she wins.

Revenge factor

After the Arizona football team exacted revenge on the Washington State Cougars this past weekend, Arizona volleyball has a chance to do the same on a different level.

Arizona has lost to Texas, Colorado, Stanford, Washington and Oregon this season. With Colorado coming to town this weekend, the Wildcats get their first chance at revenge.

Colorado swept Arizona in straight sets at the start of October, handing the Wildcats their second loss on the year. At the time, Arizona players were shocked they could not finish each of the three sets. The sets ended with Colorado winning by three, four and two points.

If Rubio is smart, he’ll play it cool with the media while secretly pumping up his players throughout practice this week.

Home sweet home

Arizona volleyball fans have just five more chances to see the Wildcats at home this year. The Wildcats are currently 9-2 at home, only losing to two undefeated teams: No. 1 Stanford and then-No.3 Washington.

The Wildcats went 16-3 last season in the friendly confines of McKale Center.

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