TUCSON, Ariz. – The Sand Cats host the Arizona Invitational this weekend at Bear Down Beach. They will take on Southern Mississippi, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Arizona Christian, and Cal Poly. Arizona enters the weekend 7-2 on the season, undefeated at home and ranked 17th in the latest AVCA Beach Top 20 poll.
Below are some news and notes on the Wildcats as they return home for the weekend:
* The 2023 season marks the 10th for Arizona head coach Steve Walker at the helm of the Wildcats program. He’s the only head coach the program has had since it was started in 2014.
* Walker’s overall record as head coach at Arizona is 166-72.
* The Wildcats checked in at No. 17 in this weeks AVCA Beach Volleyball Top 20 rankings, up one spot from last week after a victory over then-No. 17 Pepperdine on the Waves home court.
* Super senior Sarah Blacker opted to use her extra year of eligibility and return to the Wildcats in 2023. In doing so, she has a chance to become the winningest player in Arizona Beach Volleyball history. Blacker has 79 career wins entering this weekend, just seven away from passing the trio of Madison Witt, McKenna Witt and Brooke Burling that have 86 to hold the Arizona career wins record.
* The top two pairs for Arizona with the best record through the first three weeks of the season are Alana Rennie and Grace Cook at No. 3 pair and Caroline White and Kylee Fitzsimmons a the No. 4 pair position. Both pairs are 8-1 on the year.
* In seven of their eight wins this season, Rennie and Cook have won in two sets. The lone three-set match was a victory at Pepperdine.
* White and Fitzsimmons are 3-0 in 3 set matches this season.
* Blacker and Alex Parkhurst have been the No. 1 pair for the Wildcats this season and have compiled a 5-3 record so far. Last week at Pepperdine, the pair logged wins against the Waves and San Francisco.
* Abby Russell and Hope Shannon have posted a 4-5 mark at the No. 2 pair position while Annie Kost and Miranda Erro are 6-2 at No. 5.
* Arizona is a combined 23-4 at the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 spots this season, showing impressive lineup depth.
* The 2023 Arizona roster features 10 players listed as a senior, with two of those being transfers – Grace Cook (Missouri State) and Caroline White (TCU).
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