The Arizona Wildcats’ Red team absolutely snagged the victory in Saturday’s Red-Blue intrasquad scrimmage, winning in four sets (20-25, 27-25, 25-18, 15-10). While it was an intrasquad battle, one name popped off the stat sheet and has to have Wildcats fans buzzing: Destiny Ndam-Simpson. This transfer from Creighton showed up big time, especially when she was on the Red team early on.
Red Domination, Even When Blue Stacked the Deck
This wasn’t some fluke. The Red squad straight up dominated in key metrics, blowing Blue away in kills with a massive 56-35 advantage. They were also more efficient, hitting .181 compared to Blue’s .109, and their blocking game was on point, tallying 10.0 blocks to Blue’s 5.0. Both teams did struggle with serves, landing four aces each, but overall, it wasn’t their strongest area. What’s wild is how the lineups played out. Initially, coaches tried to keep things even, mixing presumed starters and returners. But after the second set, they shuffled the deck, stacking more of the experienced players and presumed starters onto the Blue team. You’d think that would slow Red down, right? Nope, they still rolled, proving their depth and grit.
Ndam-Simpson Answers the Call for Scoring Power
Everyone’s been wondering who would step up to fill the scoring void after Jordan Wilson graduated. Well, Destiny Ndam-Simpson just raised her hand, loud and clear. She racked up 24 kills on .177 hitting across the whole scrimmage. But get this: in those crucial first two sets, when she was on the victorious Red team, she smashed 17 kills on a super efficient .263 hitting percentage. Coach Rita Stubbs wasn’t holding back, saying Ndam-Simpson “can do it all as an attacker.” Destiny herself knows what’s up, acknowledging she’s been working on “attacking and passing, especially passing.” Building “consistency there has been huge,” she added, along with “continuing to just have confidence and belief in myself that I can do it.” She’s not alone, though. Britt Carlson dropped 7 kills and a team-high 6 blocks in three sets, Kennedy Osunsanmi had 9 kills, and Renee Jones, who was Red team all four sets, put up 5 error-free kills.
Woods’ Blocking Shines, What’s Next for the Wildcats?
It wasn’t all about the offense. Payton Woods on the Blue team showed some serious defensive chops, especially with her blocking. She had 3 total blocks, two of which were solo efforts. Even though her attack game needs work (4 kills, 5 errors), her blocking was definitely a highlight. Woods knows the impact, saying it makes “the right sides think,” and really helps the defense. This scrimmage showed some real promise and answered some big questions for the Wildcats, especially with Ndam-Simpson stepping into a huge role. There are still things to tighten up, like those serves, and that little wrinkle with Mo Siapani occasionally subbing out for an opposite shows they are still figuring things out. But this is early, really early, in the season. Keep an eye on the Wildcats as they build on this scrimmage and head into their next matchup, with Ndam-Simpson leading the charge.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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