The hits keep coming for the Arizona Wildcats. In their 3-1 win over Utah on Sunday, senior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke left late in the 4th set with what appeared to be a leg injury. Dahlke is the Pac-12 leader in kills this season.
Arizona acknowledged the injury, but gave no time table for her return. She was replaced by Whitnee Niphail, who had 2 of her team’s last 3 kills to finish the match.
Dahlke led all players with 21 kills in spite of her early departure – her 7th 20-plus kill effort this season in 20 matches played. She also had 8 digs, 3 blocks, and an ace in the match. Dahlke leads the team in kills this season (269, 5.05/set), as she did last year as a junior (306, 3.26/set) and as a sophomore in her breakout 2016 season (496, 3.97/set).
Dahlke missed Arizona’s loss to USC last Sunday after suffering a concussion. This is the latest in a long list of injuries to Arizona’s outside hitters group. Elizabeth Shelton has missed 10-straight matches after suffering a concussion, and Paige Whipple has missed significant time this season with a concussion as well. Whipple had 8 kills in the win over Utah, but hit just .031.
Pac-12 Kills Leaders as of October 22nd, 2018
- Kendra Dahlke, Arizona – 369 kills
- Brooke Botkin, USC – 353 kills
- Khalia Lanier, USC – 352 kills
- Dani Drews, Utah – 316 kills
- Kathryn Plummer, Stanford – 313 kills
- Kara Bajema, Washington – 293 kills
- Maddie Goings, Oregon State/Alexa Smith, Colorado – 286 kills
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