This Friday and Saturday, opening weekend for the 2019 NCAA women’s volleyball season, preseason No. 24 Arizona hosts the Cactus Classic, welcoming Samford, Appalachian State, and LMU to the Richard Jefferson Gymnasium.

Get to know the three visiting teams kicking off the season in Tucson and watch three matches from the Cactus Classic live right here on FloVolleyball. (Arizona’s matches will stream on Pac-12 Network.)

Friday, Aug. 30

1:30 PM CT: Samford vs. Loyola Marymount

5:30 PM CT: Appalachian State vs. Samford

Saturday, Aug. 31

11 AM CT: Loyola Marymount vs. Appalachian State

Samford

Samford enters 2019 as the reigning SoCon Champion and preseason favorite to repeat. In 2018, led by senior outside hitter Krista Boesing, the Bulldogs went 19-15 overall, 11-5 in conference, and ended their season with a loss to USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

This year, 2018 SoCon Freshman of the Year Lauren Deaton and First Team All-SoCon opposite Kelsi Hobbs, who were both granted 2019 preseason All-SoCon honors, will have to step up in Boesing’s absence and carry a larger portion of the offensive load. They’ll have to do so with a new setter at the helm, however, as four-year starter Taylor Anderton graduated along with Boesing in the spring. 

"I think the mark of a good program is when you lose great seniors, you have young players that are developing and ready to step in those roles and do their own thing,” Samford head coach Keylor Chan said. "We know we lost some great seniors last year, but we're excited about the growth and development of this group and for them to form their own identity and stretch their wings."

The list of starters to be replaced this fall also includes middle Shayla Phillip. 

"We are looking for [redshirt sophomore] Corinne Meglic to step in and be the starting setter for us for Taylor," Chan continued. "Replacing Krista Boesing may be by committee, we are still in the throes of that. And then we've been developing some young middles. We have two middles with Sierra [Rayzor] and Briana Holmes who played a lot last year. And then Sinclaire [Green] is really playing well too, so we have three capable middles that hopefully have all developed well."

Appalachian State

The coaches of the Sun Belt Conference selected Appalachian State to finish second in the East Division of the conference this season. The Mountaineers will seek to do that or better with the help of Preseason All-Sun Belt players Emma Longley, Emma Reilly, and Kara Spicer. 

Appalachian State kicked off its season with an exhibition match versus ETSU and after going down 0-2 managed to scrap its way back to a five-set victory, thanks to a long serving run and some momentum-grabbing plays, like the kick save in the video below.

Not really that big of a deal. We work on this every day in practice. https://t.co/BqzugvPxyB

— Matt Ginipro (@VB_CoachGinipro) August 24, 2019

In the exhibition, sophomore pin hitter Victoria Wilform hit .406 with a team-high 17 kills, and freshman setter Sam Bickely tallied 53 assists in her first collegiate match. 

Starting the year off against strong competition in Arizona should help Appalachian State have the best chance possible to win its first conference tournament title since joining the Sun Belt in 2014.

“I’m thinking about winning a championship in November,” head coach Matt Ginipro said in a press conference on Monday, “and in order to do that we’ve got to get challenged during the year because we have some really good teams in the Sun Belt that if we play a light schedule we’re not going to be prepared to play Texas State or Arkansas State or Coastal [Carolina].”

Loyola Marymount

The Lions of LMU went 21-10 overall last year, 10-8 in the West Coast Conference, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they had the misfortune of running into eventual champion Stanford. 

Playing in what is perhaps the most competitive volleyball conference outside of the Power Five, Loyola Marymount gets plenty of chances to face tough opponents, including BYU and San Diego, which appeared in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 Poll at No. 9 and No. 21, respectively. 

The coaches of the conference picked LMU to finish fourth behind BYU, San Diego, and Pepperdine, which along with LMU received votes in the national preseason poll. Three Lions—senior setter Tess Reid, junior outside hitter Megan Rice, and senior outside hitter Savannah Slattery—earned Preseason All-WCC honors. Slattery ranked second on the team in kills in 2018, trailing only graduated outside hitter Sara Kovac, and Reid started every match for the Lions last year, racking up 1344 assists. Rice, on the other hand, missed all of 2018 due to injury but was a First Team All-WCC pick as a sophomore in 2017. 

Head coach Aaron Mansfield also brings in a freshman class ranked No. 23 in the country by PrepVolleyball. The group includes Audrey Klemp, the 2018-19 Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, and Rose Booth, the 2018-19 Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year.