It was a rematch game against Arizona volleyball and No. 2 Stanford, but the Cardinal was able to repeat the past sweeping the Wildcats in three sets at McKale Center on Sunday, Oct. 29, (25-15, 25-16, 25-23).
Coming off a season-best game on Friday, Oct. 27 against Cal, the Wildcats were unable to carry over their strong performance into Sunday’s match. Arizona hoped to have a redemption game against the Cardinal, but the Wildcats passing was one of the main reasons they were unable to get the win.
“I say the same thing every single game,” Arizona head coach Dave Rubio said. “It’s not about anybody other than our ability to execute no matter who it is against.”
The teams continued to trade points in the first set, but the Cardinal was able to break away with seven straight points to lead, 19-12. Arizona tried to comeback with back-to-back kills by freshman Katie Smoot and Shardonee Hayes, but the Cardinal took the set, 25-15.
Stanford doubled up the ‘Cats early in the second set. Arizona showed they were struggling and were unable to bounce back after the Cardinal took an eight-point lead. Stanford took the second set, 25-16, to lead the match 2-0.
Junior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke led the team through the third set hitting double-digits in kills. The teams continued to exchange points throughout the set. Arizona put up a battle, but Stanford was able to take the set to sweep the ‘Cats, 25-23.
“I was disappointed,” Rubio said. “It was the first time all season I felt like we were a victim of playing the team across the net. When you play a team like Stanford its easy to get steamrolled early.”
Dahlke was the only Wildcat to finish the match with double-digits in kills with 13 holding a .167 hitting percentage, along with leading the team in digs with eight. Julia Patterson was another leader for the ‘Cats with 24 assist.
“It’s never fun to lose, but obviously they [Stanford] are a very good team,” Dahlke said. “I just think tonight we probably didn’t execute the way we would’ve liked to, but I thought we were able to fight back a little bit in the third set.”
Arizona’s inconsistency reflects on the youth of the team and Rubio hopes this process will lead them to success in the future. Arizona heads to Los Angeles, Cali. on Friday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. to take on UCLA for the second time this season.
“This will be another redemption game,” junior outside hitter Tyler Spriggs said. “We’ve always had a long history with both the LA schools so going out there we have to take care of them on Friday night and show them we are ready to play.”
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