It’s a race to see which can get colder faster: the Tucson weather or the Arizona volleyball team.
The Wildcats (12-8, 2-6 Pacific 10 Conference) were beaten in three straight games by No. 3 Stanford (18-1, 7-1) last night in McKale Center in front of 984. Game scores were 31-29, 30-24 and 30-28.
The loss marks Arizona’s third sweep in a row and fourth in five games. It’s the first time Arizona has been swept three consecutive times since 1992, when UA head coach Dave Rubio took over the program.
“”My overall thoughts probably aren’t printable and wouldn’t be appropriate,”” Rubio said. “”There was a lot of profanity and cursing going through my mind – things I couldn’t say.””
The determining factor in the match was the Wildcats’ serving. They registered a season-high 16 serving errors.
“”Our goal was to go into the game aggressive,”” said outside hitter Brooke Buringrud, who had three of the errors. “”With serving, it’s something that you have to take a little bit more time with and concentrate and we were going into our serving overly aggressive.””
After the Cardinal opened up the third game with an 8-2 run, Arizona went on a 10-4 run to tie the game at 12.
With the Wildcats up 27-25, the Cardinal went on a 5-0 run to win the game and complete the sweep.
“”We’ve got to play better from (points) 25 to 30. … Our performance between 25 and 30 is not good,”” Rubio said.
Opposite hitter Randy Goodenough paced the Wildcats’ .185 hitting with 12 kills behind .051 hitting. She also had 10 digs, marking her ninth double-double of the season.
“”Even though she had 10 attacking errors, Randy swung well and was aggressive,”” Rubio said.
The opening game was a tight one, with six lead changes and 19 ties. Arizona had 10 service errors in the game, the most in a game his season.
“”(Serving) was our only problem,”” said outside hitter Tiffany Owens, who didn’t have any serving errors. “”Ten missed serves in the first game is not going to cut it. … That was our downfall.””
Arizona takes on No. 9 California tonight at 7 in McKale Center. The Golden Bears (15-4, 5-3) beat ASU in four games last night in Tempe.
“”We’re not losing (tonight). … There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to win,”” Buringrud said.
