Arizona volleyball head coach Rita Stubbs hasn’t been afraid to make changes this season. She has switched from a 5-1 offensive system to a 6-2, made regular changes in her lineup both between and during matches, and started emphasizing the backrow attack in an effort to get more scoring from the middle of the court. The adjustments aren’t over.
“We just have to worry about Arizona volleyball, and so we’re working on a few different things that give us more options and a different look, a little bit,”
Stubbs said. “Every now and again, you gotta change things up. So, some changes will be made, have been made.”
Stubbs did not want to be too explicit about those changes heading into Thursday’s match against Arizona State. The Wildcats need every advantage they can get against the No. 8 Sun Devils.
ASU volleyball comes in with a number of its own advantages over Arizona, as outlined over the summer. They start off the court with financial support from the university in the form of 18 full scholarships. Arizona has 14.75 guaranteed scholarships and two “designated student athlete” scholarships that will go away when the players they’re attached to graduate or transfer. That doesn’t even address the issue of revenue share, which isn’t offered for volleyball at Arizona.
That financial piece has had its effects on the Wildcats, especially this season. For the last two seasons, they’ve been led in scoring by strong pins who were Arizona natives. Both Jordan Wilson and Jaelyn Hodge committed to the program partially because it was close to loved ones. That helped mitigate financial pressures to some extent, and Arizona had them for three and five years, respectively.
Arizona lost its starting setter to transfer after last year following two years with the program. While transfers typically happen for a combination of reasons, it was at least partially due to financial issues. Rumored estimates are that a similar setter costs in the mid-five figures right now.
The ability to financially compete for those players makes a difference. ASU will be coming in with three players who average 3.04 or more points per set. Two of the three average over four points per set. All three transferred to ASU from strong Power 4 programs in the past two years. Two of them came over this offseason.
While the Sun Devils are flourishing with their ability to pull in top transfers, the Wildcats have taken steps backwards this year following their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018 last year. At least some of that has to be attributed to the inability to pull in similar players to replace those who transferred or graduated.
Some of the effects of the setting changes can be seen in players who returned from last season. Middle blocker Journey Tucker is a prime example.
Tucker’s hitting percentage and kills per set have dropped to their lowest points since her freshman season. Last year, she hit .364 and averaged 1.45 kills per set. Those numbers have dropped to 1.05 k/s on .299 hitting this year. She already has more hitting errors in 16 matches this season than she did in 28 matches back in 2024. She hit a career high of .373 that season.
While not all of that can be attributed to the setter-hitter connection, that connection is a critical part of a hitter’s success. Both of Tucker’s best seasons came when the Wildcats had former setter Avery Scoggins on the roster.
All the players and coaches can do is to continue working and pushing forward. There’s one primary focus right now.
“We have to find ways to score,” Stubbs said. “We need to end plays. In the past, we would end some plays because Jordan will go up and score. Or…maybe not just Jordan…We have to find that ability because we can play defense with a lot of people, but at some point it kind of wears you down if we’re not putting the ball across the net with enough pace or at the right spot.”
That was a concern going into the season, and it’s proven to be a valid one. The stats give a clear picture of the damage done by graduation and transfer attrition.
Arizona was ranked 22nd in the country with 1,679 total kills in 2024 when Wilson, Hodge, and Carlie Cisneros were on the roster together. The Wildcats’ 13.88 k/s were 23rd in the country.
Last year, they took a small step back but were still very good. They ended ranked 76th with 1,523 total kills when Wilson and Cisneros combined with Ana Heath, Britt Carlson, or Renee Jones on the pins. Their 13.60 k/s were a very respectable 48th in the country.
They have dropped to 305th in Division I this year with 681 total kills. Their 11.35 k/s are ranked 296th.
Up next for Arizona volleyball
Arizona Wildcats (6-10, 1-4) @ No. 8 ASU Sun Devils (13-3, 4-1)
When: Thursday, Oct. 15 @ 7 p.m. MST
Where: Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz.
Streaming: ESPN+
Stats: ASU Live Stats
No. 14 BYU Cougars (13-3, 4-1) @ Arizona Wildcats (6-10, 1-4)
When: Saturday, Oct. 17 @ 6 p.m. MST
Where: McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
Streaming: ESPN+
Stats: Arizona Live Stats
Despite this large step back being a real possibility heading into the season, being unable to address it so far is taking its toll on the players.
“They’re frustrated,” Stubbs said. “You know, there’s nothing that we’re saying as a staff or things that we’re addressing or talking about that they haven’t thought about or they know, so we’re all in the same place…I guarantee everyone can verbatim say what we need to do and the fact that we’ve said it since August, and we’re in the month of October and we’re still saying it.”
Stubbs said that the things being asked of the players are within their abilities, so she believes they can improve over the final six weeks of the season.
“I’ve never said jump higher, hit harder, run faster,” she said.
The players also believe that they can improve. Right side hitter Kennedy Osunsanmi has already seen it in herself.
Osunsanmi has increased her kills per set from 1.53 last year at San Diego to 2.02 this year at Arizona. She has a .245 hitting percentage. While that’s down a bit from the .254 she had last year, it’s not dramatically so. Her total blocks have stayed relatively steady, going up to 0.62 TB/s from 0.60 last season. She contributes 2.35 points per set, an increase from last year’s 1.85. She has done all of it while sharing the opposite hitter position in Arizona’s 6-2 offense.
“Since I’ve been here, my confidence has definitely grown a ton,” Osunsanmi said. “Obviously, skill-wise, I feel…like things are starting to click more, and with my confidence growing, I feel like I can be more aggressive, especially as an attacker.”
Her hopes are that all that comes together for everyone because their biggest goal is still on the table.
“We really want to make the NCAA tournament, and that goal, even with our record, still hasn’t left our minds,” Osunsanmi said.
