Arizona volleyball traveled to Northern California to take on No. 2 Stanford and No. 16 California. The Wildcats lost both games by a final score of 0-3 and returned home with an 11-7 record.

Stanford:

Arizona fell to No. 2 Stanford 0-3 on Friday night in the Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California.

Stanford took the first set 25-16, getting off to a hot start as they took a 5-1 lead. Arizona battled back to make it close at 5-7. After a timeout, Stanford continued to grow its lead and never looked back. 

Stanford went on to take the second set 25-14. Once again, they got off to a hot start, taking a quick 10-2 lead. Stanford continued the early dominance throughout the entire set, keeping Arizona an arm’s length away the whole time.

Stanford cruised to victory in the third set 25-16. They dominated this set from beginning to end, and led by as much as 9 points. The Wildcats tried to make it interesting with a late-set run, but it was too little too late. Katie Smoot led all players with 11 kills on the night.

California:

Despite a strong effort, the Arizona Wildcats dropped their second match on the weekend against No. 16 Cal (23-25, 19-25, 20-25). In the third set, Julia Patterson made school history as she recorded her 3,000th assist of her career.  

There was skepticism if Patterson was today going to join the exclusive club that only six other players in Arizona history have achieved, heading into the contest 25 assists shy of the milestone.  

Thanks to a stellar performance, she surpassed the milestone with 26 assists, five kills, eight digs and a block.  She now ranks No. 7 all-time in Arizona assists leaders, currently 516 away from passing Meather McCormack (1989-92) on the career list.

Many players for the Wildcats were forced to step up due to numerous injuries on the team, especially with the absence of middle blocker Shardonee Hayes. Paige Whipple had a team-high 13 kills, while also contributing an ace, five digs and an assist. In addition, Emi Pua’a led the team with 12 digs along with recording 5 assists and Zyonna Fellows was a force at the net with 2 blocks.

These efforts helped Arizona closely compete in each set, but it ultimately fell short against an extremely talented Golden Bears team.

Arizona volleyball continues its road trip as the team travels to Pullman, Wash. to take on No. 24 Washington State on Friday, Oct. 18.

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