Although the Arizona volleyball team’s concentration may be focused on its future, it wasn’t distracted from the present this weekend.

Although Arizona (12-15 3-12 Pacific 10 Conference) has no chance of postseason play, the Wildcats still took care of business when they completed their first weekend sweep in Pac-10 play, beating Oregon State in three games (30-27, 30-18, and 30-24) Friday for the second time this season after taking down then-No. 24 Oregon in five games Thursday in McKale Center.

With just two weeks remaining in the season, UA head coach Dave Rubio said his team still possesses the fight and the motivation you would see in a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations.

“”We are continuing to get better, that’s the good news,”” Rubio said. “”The kids still have the drive to get better. Now if we can demonstrate our improvement in the next three matches, I’ll be really happy.””

After upsetting the Ducks on Thursday night, junior middle blocker Dominique Lamb said she was impressed with the Wildcats’ fight.

“”We are actually showing our audience and our community how we play in practice,”” said Lamb, who finished with a match-high 14 kills and a .778 hitting percentage after making no errors on 18 swings against the Beavers.

Even with the win, Rubio said Arizona wasn’t playing at its highest level of capability.

“”I thought the match in general was a little sloppy,”” he said. “”With a younger group at times you tend to come in, especially after a pretty good win the night before, and maybe not be as focused and sharp.””

But the Wildcats took advantage of a slumping Oregon State team that has not won a match since Sept. 9.

The Wildcats downed the Beavers (3-20, 0-14) for the 21st consecutive time after out-hitting them .234 to .066, while adding 10.5 blocks.

“”They (Oregon State) were not playing at their best,”” Rubio said. “”They are a team like us, relying on a lot of young kids, and sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get from one night to the next.””

Freshman outside hitter Whitney Dosty, who posted career-high numbers the night before against the Ducks, posted 13 kills, while senior setter Stephanie Butkus added 38 assists in her final game in McKale Center.

With the Wildcats recent success in the Pac-10, Dosty said she feels the team is starting to play at a higher level.

“”I think in the past games we have lost we haven’t been playing the way we play in the gym and how we practice,”” she said. “”Coming out and staying as a team and finishing games helped us this weekend.””

– Ari Wasserman

Glass littered the cold floor of the rink Saturday night in the Tucson Convention Center.

Like the pieces of the broken glass panel that were swept off of the ice, the No. 11 Arizona club hockey team’s hopes of beating undefeated No. 4 Oklahoma were shattered, as it lost 5-4 on Saturday and 3-2 on Friday.

“”If Oklahoma’s No. 4, we’re easily No. 4 in the country,”” Icecats head coach Leo Golembiewski said. “”It’s just that simple.””

Sophomore forward Owen Brewer broke a 2-2 tie in the second period with an eventual game-winning goal for the undefeated Sooners against sophomore goalie Nick Boddy.

Boddy started both games because junior Luke Edwall, who normally starts at least one game in goal, was in Minnesota for his grandmother’s funeral.

Prior to the goal, UA senior defenseman Evan Marro hit Brewer into the glass panel 8:08 into the first period, a feat that earned Marro a two-minute penalty.

“”That was a tough hit,”” OU sophomore defenseman Greg Smith said. “”Owen’s stick went right through the glass.””

After a 30-minute delay to reinstall the new glass and bandage up a few spectators that were cut by the shards of glass, the game picked up where it had left off, tied 1-1 with early goals by OU sophomore defenseman Doug Gebbie 1:51 in and UA freshman defenseman Zach Samson 3:28 in.

Although Arizona (7-3-1) fired more shots on goal than Oklahoma (15-0), shooting 55 to 48, respectively, the Sooners were more precise, netting two goals in the second period.

OU freshman forward Jordan Novak scored 4:30 later after Brewer’s goal to go up 4-2.

The Sooners’ goalie, backup freshman Ryan Anderson, came out of the game due to a groin injury he suffered when a UA player slid into him 6:47 into the second period.

He was replaced with first-string goalie, senior Aaron Schmeilki, who was named the ACHA Defensive Player-of-the-Week for the week of Oct. 17-22. Schmeilki didn’t surrender a goal until nearly 20 minutes later, when sophomore defenseman Zach Stommen scored one unassisted.

“”Probably the biggest turning point of the whole game was when their No. 2 goalie got hurt,”” Golembiewski said. “”(If) that No. 2 goalie (stayed in) the game, I think there would have been different results.””

Oklahoma had only surrendered 20 goals in 13 games prior to facing Arizona, but the Icecats managed to total six in the two games.

Golembiewski said that this offensive surge was not a resultant of change in any form.

“”Style, consistence, philosophy – that don’t change,”” he said. “”What we bring to the table, we’re proud of. It’s what you demand from your players, and what they give back is what makes us who we are.””

After shooting several shots directly at Schmeilki in the final two minutes of the game, the frustration of the Icecats showed when a seven-player fight broke out with two seconds left in the game, exemplifying the aggressive play of each team throughout the weekend.

OU defenseman Robert Hetrick, lifted Oklahoma 3-2 over the Icecats, with a slap shot as 2:10 remained in the third period. A penalty on Arizona allowed the 2-2 tie to be broken.

“”It was kind of a cheap penalty at the end of that game,”” said Golembiewski, who got into a heated argument with the referees after the game. “”When you have both teams working as hard as they did, and still call that penalty – I think it was wrong.””

But the Icecats missed some chances with five minutes to play in the third period, unable to take the lead on a 5-on-3 power play, missing all six shots on the two-man advantage.

UA sophomore left wing John Hansen scored early in the second period and junior defenseman Max Silwinski tied the game at 2 midway through the third period, while Sooners forward Justin Hall scored two goals for Oklahoma, one in each of the first two periods.

-Lance Madden; Cameron Jones contributed to this story

The No. 4 Arizona women’s swimming and diving team returned from Los Angeles with a couple of victories, as the women defeated No. 12 UCLA 170-127 on Saturday and No. 7 USC 128-57 on Friday, but the No. 5 men lost its meet against No. 7 USC 75-65 in a two-day event Friday and Saturday,

The Wildcats competed without senior Homecoming nominees Adam Ritter and Whitney Myers, both All-Americans.

“”I was wondering how we’d compete under some pressure as a team, and I felt like we did a good job of that,”” UA head coach Frank Busch said.

Coming off a win against the Women of Troy (2-1, 1-1 Pacific 10 Conference) on Friday, the UA women (3-0, 2-0) won 11 events against the UCLA women (4-1, 2-1) on Saturday.

“”I think they stepped on the deck on both Friday and Saturday and felt like they were going to be a force to be reckoned with, and they were right,”” Busch said.

Juniors Lacey Nymeyer and Courtney Cashion along with freshmen Caitlin Iverson and Jenny Forster had two individual wins each on Saturday.

Nymeyer, a co-captain, won the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, after winning the 200y event on Friday.

Cashion took first place in the 50- and 100y freestyle events, following an encouraging performance on Friday when she won the same events.

Iverson won both the 100- and 200y backstroke events, along with two victories on Friday in the 200y backstroke and the 200y individual medley.

Classmate Forster was victorious in the 200y butterfly and the 400 IM events.

Also victorious for the Wildcats was freshman Ana Agy in the 100y butterfly competition.

The relay team of freshmen Andrea Boritzke and Annie Chandler with sophomore Lara Jackson and Nymeyer also won the 200y medley relay with a time of 1:43.08.

In breaststroke competition, Arizona posted one first-place finish with junior Jacquelyn Craft’s win in the 200y competition on Friday.

“”They’ve got a lot of talent and not a lot of experience, which is always a good thing,”” Busch said of the team. “”The experience will come.””

The UA men (2-1, 0-1) dropped its first meet of the season to the Trojans (3-0, 2-0).

“”You wonder how people are going to perform under a little bit of pressure for the first time,”” Busch said. “”They’re not afraid of much. They look forward to it.””

The team won four of the seven events on Saturday, but it was not enough to post a team victory.

Junior Albert Subirats saw the most success over the two days of competition, as he won the 100y butterfly on Saturday and100y backstroke on Friday.

Classmate Darian Townsend won the 200 IM event, while Nicolas Nilo, a sophomore, took first place in the 100y freestyle event.

Freshman Joel Greenshields came out with an individual victory, as he won the 200y freestyle event on Friday.

The Wildcats finished the day well on Saturday as the 400y freestyle relay team of Subirats, Nilo, Greenshields, and freshman Jordan Smith came out victorious.

With important meets coming up at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 30, the team will be working on “”getting some more rest and just working on some technical things that we just need to do in order to be a little bit better,”” Busch said.

Senior Megan MacDonald enjoyed success against USC on Friday when she took first place in both the 1- and 3-meter springboard competitions.

She and teammate Allison Scaife, a sophomore, did not fare as well against UCLA, as MacDonald placed fourth in the 1m event and Scaife took fourth place in the 3m competition.

For the men, junior Matt Bisordi placed third in the 1m and fifth in the 3m event, while freshman Michael Guilfoil took fourth place in the 1m springboard competition.

– Melissa Krueger