The Arizona volleyball team did something that it had not done against Oregon State since 1996.

The Wildcats lost, bringing their losing streak up to six matches in a row after dropping the matchup in five games, 30-25, 30-26, 30-27, 30-25 and 15-13, at Gill Coliseum.

“”OSU played much better (than they did in Tucson) and it was a very close match,”” UA head coach Dave Rubio said. “”(With 21 kills, OSU outside hitter) Rachel Rourke was

dominant in every aspect of the game. She was bombing the ball. It was their best match year.””

After being swept by No. 16 Oregon on Thursday night, the Wildcats (12-11, 2-9 Pacific 10 Conference) battled tough against the Beavers (10-13, 3-8), who Arizona swept Sept. 27 in McKale Center.

“”We can be very inconsistent,”” Rubio said. “”And we can lose and gain confidence a lot within the same game, and sometimes we play like an immature team. Against Oregon we were terrible, but tonight was much better.

“”Losing is difficult,”” Rubio added. “”But that’s part of competition.””

Outside hitter Tiffany Owens led Arizona with a career-high 25 kills, her fourth game in a row with double-digit kills.

“”Tiffany refused to play poorly,”” Rubio said. “”She put the team on her back and is playing at an exceptionally high level – and with a lot of confidence.””

Setter Paige Weber recorded 55 assists and opposite hitter Randy Goodenough posted her 11th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 14 digs, despite being injured in the match.

After losing the first game, Arizona came close to losing much more than a match when Goodenough had to be carried from the floor, writhing in pain. Arizona battled back and eventually won game two.

In game three, OSU went on an 8-2 run with the game tied 17 and held off a late UA rally to win the game.

Goodenough returned in game four and helped rejuvenate her team, which overcame a 7-1 deficit to force a deciding game.

With Arizona trailing 12-11 in game five, middle blocker Jacy Norton was ejected with a red card for arguing a call, eventually leading to the loss.

“”The officiating was questionable, but it’s been like that all season, we just can’t catch a break,”” Rubio said. “”We have no traction for the season – we just haven’t played well enough at key times of the match. We’ve shown we can play with the top teams, we just haven’t played well enough to beat them.

“”We suffer confidence problems,”” he added. “”But that’s the way it goes sometimes. We could’ve folded, but we competed and we just need to soldier on.””