The Arizona volleyball team wrapped up its weekend in Los Angeles in dramatic fashion Friday, losing to No. 4 USC in five games after dropping a four-game match to No. 5 UCLA the night before.
The Wildcats (10-4, 0-2 Pacific 10 Conference) held a 2-1 lead in the series, but the Women of
We just haven’t learned how to play well at the end of a match to beat a good team.The demons from last year have come back to haunt us.
– Dave Rubio, head coach
Troy (12-0, 2-0) held on to win the final two games 30-22 and 15-10.
“”Every road trip is a difficult one, and the L.A. trip ranks up there,”” said UA head coach Dave Rubio. “”Especially when you’re playing two top teams in the country. But the thing we know now is that we’re very close with the best teams in the country.””
Arizona hit .208 and finished with a season-high 18 blocks. USC hit .222, and registered 13 blocks and nine service aces.
The Wildcats got a lot of offensive help from middle blockers Dominique Lamb and Jacy Norton in a career night for each.
Lamb had a career-high 21 kills on .462 hitting and a career-high 12 blocks, and Norton put up a career-best 14 kills on .429 hitting.
“”We had to find different ways to score,”” Rubio said. “”Most of the time we rely on our lefts (outside hitters) and they’re good, but we had to find a new way to get it done, and it worked.””
Libero Alanna Resch also had a stellar outing with a career- and match-high 25 digs, while opposite hitter Randy Goodenough posted her second double-double in as many nights with 13 kills and 15 digs. She also had eight blocks.
“”Everyone played exceptionally well, and we put ourselves in a position to win both matches against UCLA and USC,”” Rubio said.
With the teams tied at two games apiece, Arizona took a 6-4 lead in game five, but a 9-3 run by USC helped the team clinch the win. Arizona hit just .033 behind nine attack errors, as USC hit .227.
“”We just haven’t learned how to play well at the end of a match to beat a good team,”” Rubio said. “”The demons from last year have come back to haunt us.””
After Arizona won the first game 30-24, USC downed the Wildcats 30-27 in game two, even though Arizona out-hit USC .341 to .265.
Arizona took the 2-1 lead after winning game three 32-30. The Wildcats trailed by four, but kept it close as the game progressed. A Trojan attack error and a Norton kill gave the Wildcats the win.
“”In the USC match, I was really proud of the kids,”” Rubio said. “”We came back after a tough loss to UCLA and really put ourselves in a position to win. They really played their heart out and just ran out of gas at the end.””
