The Arizona volleyball team’s season ended yesterday with a loss to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The Wildcats got off to a shaky start as they lost the first two sets 22-25 and 20-25. Those first two sets fueled the Wildcats to take the next two sets 25-17 and 25-19 to force a fifth set between the two teams, which ended in a stunning 9-15 loss to lose the match.
Set 1 (22-25)
UNLV got off to a hot start by taking an early lead 4-1, then the Wildcats bounced back from a couple of exchanged points which turned into a 3-0 run of their own to tie the game 8-8. From there, it was pretty even up until the 16-point mark. UNLV pulled away from there with a pair of 3-0 runs to take the set 25-22. Sofia Maldonado Diaz and Jaelyn Hodge each had four kills for the set and Zyonna Fellows recorded three of her own.
Set 2 (20-25)
The Wildcats started the second set off with an early lead at 9-5, but UNLV struck back with a 4-0 run to tie the game 9-9 early on. Coming off a coach’s challenge, a Fellows block tied the game at the 19-point mark, UNLV then took off to win the set 25-20 due to their scrappy defense towards the end of the set. Hodge and Fellows each put up four kills for the set. Maldonado Diaz and Puk Stubbe each recorded a pair of kills for the set.
Set 3 (25-17)
With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats were down 2-0 in the match and they needed to make something happen. And they did. They went on a six-point run to start the set thanks to their libero Kamaile Hiapo and their setter Emery Herman with her outstanding blocking. They exchanged a lot of points from there with UNLV and the Cats ended up taking the set 25-17. UNLV had a total of 12 attack errors this set, which was about half of the points the Wildcats needed to win the set. Other than that, Hodge put up four kills, Freshman middle blocker Alayna Johnson stepped up adding three kills, Maldonado Diaz recorded three kills and a service ace, and Junior outside hitter Dilara Gedikoglu put up a pair of kills.
Related: Arizona volleyball sweeps Texas Rio Grande Valley in first game of NVIC tournament
Set 4 (25-19)
The Wildcats continued their momentum from the third set to the fourth as they started the same way they did the third set. An early 6-0 run set the pace thanks to Hiapo once again and Hodge putting up four kills in that span. UNLV made a switch of liberos in the middle of the set to try and shake things up, but from there, the Wildcats cruised to take the set 25-19 after many exchanges of points throughout the set. Hodge recorded eight kills for the set, Johnson put up four kills, Maldonado Diaz and Gedikoglu each had a pair of kills in the set, and Emery Herman recorded a pair of kills herself.
Set 5 (9-15)
The third and fourth sets gave the Wildcats a new life, which gave them a chance to take the fifth and final set of the match. A kill from Hodge followed by a service ace from Hiapo gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead to start the set. Arizona and UNLV exchanged points until the 7-point mark, where UNLV went on a 3-0 run to reach double digits first at 10-7. UNLV continued that momentum into another 3-0 run to put them two points away from the match point at 13-8. The Wildcats tried their best to force a comeback, but couldn’t get it done as UNLV’s Mariena Hayden scored back-to-back kills to take the set and the match 15-9. Hodge put up three kills for the set.
Hodge finished the match on a high note recording 23 kills with 12 digs and a block. On the other end of the volleyball, Hiapo finished with 30 digs, a pair of aces and three assists. Herman ended with 49 assists, 15 digs, six blocks, three kills and an ace. Johnson recorded nine kills and four blocks, while Fellows added eight kills and six blocks. Maldonado Diaz finished with 11 kills for the match.
The Arizona volleyball team ended their season with their heads held high as they look forward to what’s to come next season. Catch the volleyball team in action next fall as they look to the top to try and compete for a National Championship.
Follow Sam Gillman on Twitter
