Wildcats volleyball coach Stubbs eyes fix for close losses
Arizona volleyball coach Rita Stubbs says her team has lost three close matches to ranked opponents this season and is working on finishing strong.
Rita Stubbs commented at one of her pre-season Bump, Set, Spike events that she thought this team was really close to being there.
The Arizona volleyball coach meant that her squad had all the pieces to win against Top 10 and ranked teams.
It's a question that's lingered for a while.
What does this look like to her? What is the moment when it all clicks? What is it like being almost there?
It really sounds a lot like a coach's intuition, as even when Stubbs was asked about it this week, she said she really doesn't know how to explain it. Then she went on to say this:
"The Colorado match was probably the first match all season where I thought we were fully prepared, we were rested enough, and we were in a position to win that match," Stubbs said.
And yet they let it slip away. Colorado was ranked No. 21 in the country on Sept. 27 when Arizona lost 3-2, (20-25, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 6-15).
Close, but not close enough.
In the big picture, one of their biggest challenges is making adjustments quicker. And that is sometimes the slimmest margin between winning and losing, as well as the difference between a team that is close and a team that is already there.
"It's like, OK, you come after them, they make an adjustment. How well do we meet that adjustment that takes place? And dealing that part is the hard part for them," Stubbs said. "It's like, 'Oh, I've been doing this and it was working.' OK, they did something different. Now, can you do something different? Because Iowa State's going to put us in a position to do what they want us to do because they know what we do. How do we handle that? And how do you defy what's going on there?"
This was the third loss to a ranked team in the first month of the season. The Wildcats lost another close one to then-No. 10 Creighton, 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 12-15) and to then-No. 15-USC, 3-1 (21-15, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23).
The Wildcats are definitely competing and fighting the entire match. That's not the challenge right now. It's all about finishing.
Until they do, for a coach like Stubbs, at times it can be "very frustrating," because she knows what her team can do.
"In my opinion, with women and with what's going on here, they have to get quicker results on it," Stubbs said. "So, if I talk on this play, it better work, and if it doesn't work, I'm going to question whether I need to talk again, or if I go up and I follow the scouting report and to a T, and we don't walk away with a victory. It makes you pause just a little bit.
PJ Brown, The Undercovered
That self-doubt, she said, comes with the territory.
"I think that's just the world that we live in now, and so it is knowing that you can do everything right but still lose. That isn't something that makes sense in their head. But as a coach, it really sucks because we're really close, but it's a lot of the little things we have to do." Stubbs said.
Stubbs has already taken a different approach to teaching this week to help her team get over this hurdle.
Practices are faster paced. She replicated what happened during the Colorado match and asked them, "What are you saying to yourself right now? What are you saying to the team right now? What are you doing to make the situation better?"
During Wednesday's practice, they played three minutes straight, before stopping to give players information, "to see how they made the adjustments that were necessary, or how they continue to do what worked until the opponents do something different."
It always comes down to the little things. Another task they are working on is not relying on one person. In the past few years, they had a Jordan Wilson or a Jaelyn Hodge, who would take over when they needed it. Both have graduated and are playing professionally. Now, everyone on the floor has to do their job and not hesitate to step up.
As with many teams, Arizona is a work in progress. That's just the nature of a season.
It remains to be seen when it all clicks for the Wildcats this season. And after all of this, who knows, it might just all come down to playing at home again after a month on the road.
PJ Brown is the founder of The Undercovered, a Substack newsletter covering untold stories in women's college, professional and Olympic sports. Find more of her work at theundercovered.substack.com.
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