Wildcat Week in Review, Oct. 28
Senior quarterback B.J. Denker set a new school record for quarterback rushing yards on Saturday, Oct. 26, racking up 192 yards with his feet in Arizona football’s 44-20 victory over Boulder. Denker totaled 452 yards on the day, throwing 21-of-32 with one touchdown connection to senior receiver Terrence Miller. The Wildcats (5-2, 2-2) dominated the offense, recording 670 total yards, 405 of which were rushing yards. Junior running back Ka’deem Carey contributed 109 rushing yards and a whopping four touchdowns. Colorado (3-4, 0-4) was held to just 349 total yards, 212 of which were off passes made by freshman quarterback Sefo Liufau, who connected with junior receiver Paul Richardson for 132 of those yards.
No. 25 Arizona volleyball hit a rocky point this weekend as they traveled to Colorado and Utah. The Rocky Mountain schools held the Wildcats (15-7, 5-5) to winning just one set over the weekend, falling to Boulder (13-6, 5-4) 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 25 and Utah (17-5, 6-4) 3-1 on Sunday, Oct. 27. CU connected with the ball well during the match, recording a hitting percentage of .333. Junior Taylor Simpson hit .444 with 15 kills on Friday. The Wildcats recorded only 37 total digs, led by senior libero Candace Nicholson with 12. In Utah, sophomore middle blocker Olivia Magill’s 10 kills and seven blocks were not enough to slow the Utes, who handed UA its first loss since Nov. 30, 2002. Freshman setter recorded her 11th double-double in the effort, with 43 assists and 13 digs.
Men’s swimming bounced back from a narrow loss at Utah on Oct. 19 to defeat UNLV 208-91 Friday, Oct. 25 at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. Kelly Moodie set the precedence for the UA team by out-touching opponent Giacomo Gremizzi by six-hundredths of a second in the 200 yard freestyle in the fourth event of the meet. Junior Kevin Cordes compiled victories in the 100y and 200y breaststroke, out-swimming his opponent by four seconds in the 200y race. Senior Giles Smith contributed to the Wildcats’ win with victories in the 100y freestyle and 100y butterfly.
Women’s swimming completed the home sweep for Arizona on Friday, outscoring UNLV 183-109. Despite Arizona’s head coach Eric Hansen stepping away for a sudden leave of absence, the team stayed consistent in their efforts under associate head coach Rick DeMont. Senior Margo Greer won the 50y, 100y, and 200y freestyle events, with Wildcat swimmers claiming the top three spots in each competition. Senior Ashley Evans, junior Elizabeth Pepper, and sophomore Katja Hajdinjak also finished 1-2-3 in the 200 butterfly.
No. 11 Arizona hockey (6-5-0, 2-1-0) split it’s home opener this weekend, defeating NAU 3-2 on Friday before falling to No. 6 Delaware 7-4 on Saturday. Senior goalkeeper Steven Sisler recorded 30 saves against NAU (6-5-0). He also started against Delaware (9-2-1), but the Wildcats’ efforts fell just short. UA trailed Delaware 3-0 at the end of the first period before scoring four unanswered goals to go up 4-3 in the second, but the Blue Hens scored off a power play goal at the end of the period and followed with three unanswered goals in the third. Delaware’s senior forward Christopher Volonnino faced an ejection from the game after ramming Arizona defenseman Byan Drazner against the boards in the second period.
Women’s soccer fought back in Washington on Sunday, Oct. 27, tying the Huskies 2-2 in the double-overtime match. After getting shut out by Washington State (10-3-3) 4-0 on Friday, UA rallied back into competition on Sunday. The Wildcats (7-6-4) were down 2-0 before junior Alexandra Doller connected with the net in the 64th minute of the game. Sophomore Jaden DeGracie recorded the tying goal with 16 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Washington (7-6-4) scored both goals in the first half, and only totaled seven shots on goal as opposed to Arizona’s 22. On Friday, the Wildcats recorded only 10 shots on goal, and senior goalkeeper Gabby Kauffman had nine saves.
Men’s golf competed at the Wilberly Intercollegiate in Las Cruces, N.M. last week, finishing in eighth place in their last fall tournament. Senior Erik Oja finished in ninth place, totaling 215 strokes for a final score of two over par. Junior Alex McMahon tied for 16th place, Junior Brenden Redfern tied for 26th, junior Dylan Kornberg finished in a tie for 77th, and freshman Bertrand Momaerts rounded out the Wildcats, finishing 92nd.
Women’s golf finished sixth in the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. on Sunday. Freshman Wanasa Zhou led the No. 8 Wildcats in her debut, tying for 13th place in a +7 finish. No. 13 Lindsey Weaver finished +11, good for 22nd place, followed by junior Manon Gidali in 38th place (+14). No. 61 junior Kendall Prince finished +16 on the weekend, and No. 23 junior Andrea Vilarasau recorded a +23 finish. No. 10 Alabama won the tournament, followed by No. 4 Duke and No. 13 to round out the top three.
Arizona softball swept it’s round robin tournament against Eastern Arizona, Fort Lewis, and Scottsdale Community College last weekend. The Wildcats defeated Eastern Arizona 15-0 and Fort Lewis 10-0 on Saturday, and Scottsdale Community College 12-0 on Sunday. UA hit seven home runs over the weekend, two of which came on Saturday by freshman third baseman Katiyana Mauga. Arizona only recorded two strikeouts over the three games, both coming from the game against Eastern Arizona. Senior utility player Kelsey Rodriguez and junior catcher Chelsea Goodacre slammed back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning against Scottsdale Community College; Rodriguez’ was good for three runs and Goodacre’s was solo.