This evening, the ‘Cats faced off against the Washington Huskies in the second game of the Arizona Invitational at Bear Down Beach and won a neck-to-neck competition by a score of 3-2 due to the clutch performance by the No. 3 team, Mia Mason and Brooke Burling.
After being the only team to fall to the New Mexico Lobos this afternoon, Mason and Burling were able to pull out the win against Huskies Shayne McPherson and Carly Dehoog to give Arizona the victory and fifth win of the season. Mason and Burling dominated the first set 21-7, lost the second set 11-21, but pulled through in the third set by a score of 15-5 to give the ‘Cats the overall win in the game.
“It’s always fun to be the final team that decides the match. We love that,” Mason said after her performance tonight.
“It’s more important to worry about what we bring to the table, and not the other team,” Mason added in.
Last year, during the Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Championships, the ‘Cats fell to the Huskies by a score of 1-4. However, this time they were able to get their revenge on the home courts.
“Especially after our loss to them in Pac-12 last year, this was definitely one for books. We’re confident when we go out there and play our game,” Burling stated.
Arizona’s No. 1 team Olivia MacDonald and Natalie Anselmo defeated Washington’s Kimmy Gardiner and Jordan Anderson in a decisive two-set match. The pair won 21-12 in the first set and 21-16 in the second set to give Arizona its fourth win of the game.
Freshman Jonny Baham and senior Hailey Devlin took the courts first and set the tone for Arizona with a 21-15 and 21-18 win for the ‘Cats. The freshman-senior combo was able to thrive on the courts due to the Baham’s ability to move on the court and Devlin’s height for blocking.
On the flip side for Arizona, the No. 5 team, Makenna Martin and Caroline Cordes, was not able to pull out a victory for the ‘Cats. Martin and Cordes dropped both sets by a score of 18-21 and 13-21, respectively. In addition, the No. 2 team, Kacey Nady and Olivia Hallaran, dropped their game in two close sets of 16-21 and 18-21 scores.
The Sand Cats will play again tomorrow at 11 a.m. against Loyola Marymount University at Bear Down Beach in Tucson, Ariz.
