When the 2026 season opened, Arizona Wildcats head coach Rita Stubbs had planned to rely on senior right‑side hitters Britt Carlson and Kennedy Osunsanmi. An early injury to Carlson opened a door for sophomore opposite Renee Jones, who answered the call and quickly emerged as the team’s most reliable offensive weapon.
Jones shines despite limited expectations
Jones was not slated to see much floor time in the Wildcats’ 6‑2 system, but she turned that into motivation. Over the three opening matches, she posted a .400 hitting percentage, the highest among all Arizona hitters, and ranked second overall only to setter Harmony Sample. Her 2.67 points and 2.11 kills per set placed her third on the roster and second among players who appeared in every match. Defensively, she contributed 0.89 blocks per set, the best mark among the full‑time lineup.
“I felt pretty good on how the way things started,” Jones said after the weekend. “With Britt being down, it was sad to see a teammate go down, but it definitely opened opportunities for me. I just had to go into the game knowing that I’m there to help my team in any way I could, and that gave me the confidence to go out and just have fun.”
Coach Stubbs praises the young talent
Stubbs highlighted Jones’s readiness, noting that she was technically the third right side on the depth chart. “She went in there and started being aggressive, picking her spot as a blocker and offering a lot of offense as well,” Stubbs said. “That’s exactly what you want from someone who was practically a starter all last year once she came back.”
Jones’s breakout was not a complete surprise. As a freshman, she logged strong outings, including a five‑kill performance against Stanford in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. After missing early‑season time for a surgical procedure, she returned to start 10 of 14 matches, finishing third on the team with 0.79 blocks per set.
Other Wildcats step up
Outside hitter Payton Woods also earned a call‑up, entering the match against UCSB when Arizona struggled to score. Freshman Gigi Whann and reserve middle blocker Kristen Dear saw minutes as the coaching staff rotated reserves to keep the lineup fresh. Stubbs emphasized the importance of readiness, saying, “You never know when you’ll be the person that needs to do it. You can’t mope or feel jealous; you have to be ready to go.”
Looking ahead
The Wildcats now face a challenging road stretch, beginning with a matchup against 10th‑ranked Creighton on Friday evening at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Nebraska. Creighton comes in 2‑1, having beaten No. 9 Purdue and No. 20 USC while dropping a match to No. 14 Minnesota. Arizona will need to build on its opening‑week performances to stay competitive against top‑20 opponents.
Senior outside hitter Destiny Ndam‑Simpson, a key left‑side attacker, also carries a heavy load. She leads the team with 3.89 points and 3.11 kills per set but is currently hitting .200, a figure the coaching staff hopes to improve. The Wildcats have struggled with ball control, a weakness that has surfaced in both exhibition and regular‑season play, putting additional pressure on setters to deliver accurate sets.
“We’ve got to locate,” Stubbs said. “It’s just the reps of doing it over and over again. Each day they’re getting better, and that’s all you could ask for.”
As the Wildcats embark on four straight weeks of road games, the question remains whether the depth and resilience shown by Jones and her teammates will translate into victories against the nation’s elite.
Original reporting: Arizona Desert Swarm (Tucson Sports) — read the source article.
