After losing to the No. 6 Washington Huskies, Arizona indoor volleyball came back from a 2-1 deficit at Washington State on Sunday afternoon to win 3-2.

Arizona (13-5, 3-3 Pac-12) took the 5-1 lead quick during the first set. The Cougars tied it up but the Wildcats jumped out to a 20-14 lead. The scores went back and forth but Arizona took the victory, finishing the set 25-23.

Washington State won the second set 25-22, and then the third set, 25-23. Arizona came back strong on the fourth set, starting with a 9-4 lead. The Cougars couldn’t retake the lead during the fourth set as the Wildcats won it 25-17.

The Wildcats took the final set 15-12. Junior outside hitter Madi Kingdon led Arizona in kills with 19 and had 16 digs.

Senior Candace Nicholson and freshman Penina Snuka each had 20 digs for the game. Snuka also contributed with three blocks and a kill for the afternoon.

Although both teams were aggressive on defense, Arizona was also aggressive on offensive. The Wildcats had more kills, assists, digs, blocks and serve aces than the Cougars.

“We had to dig really deep against Washington State,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “We had some serve receive and serving errors but at the end it was nice to beat them at their home.”

Rubio said he thought the Wildcats got better after a slow start to the weekend.

“I thought we played really well from Friday’s first set,” Rubio said. “We have to get better as passers.”

The Washington Huskies didn’t have much trouble with Arizona in its 3-1 win on Friday. Washington started off strong, winning the first set 25-10.

Although Arizona had the 13-11 lead, it didn’t take long for Washington to take a 16-13 lead. The Huskies took the second set 25-20, hitting .317 offensively.

Arizona was able to win the third set 25-21 hitting .306. The defense was strong, only allowing the Huskies to hit .053.

The Huskies and Wildcats were tied 11-11 during the fourth set when Washington took the lead, scoring three straight points. Arizona struck back, taking the lead 21-20, but the Huskies pulled through and took the victory, 25-20.

Juniors Taylor Arizobal, Jane Croson and Kingdon all recorded double-figure kills. Kingdon had eight digs and Arizobal had 10 kills, six digs and three blocks. Croson had 12 kills and five digs.
The Wildcats’ next matches will be Friday at 6 p.m. as they host No. 23 UCLA on “Dig Pink” night.

—Follow Rose Valenzuela @RoseAlyVal