After hitting a bump in the road at the start of Pac-12 conference play, Arizona seems to be gaining momentum as they completed the season sweep of Washington State and picked up their second consecutive win.
After losing four out of five in October, the Wildcats have won three of their past four and looked to have regained their swagger as they hope to close the season strong. This win marks the first time in almost two months that Arizona has won consecutive games, dating back to the Blackbird Invitational when Arizona defeated Sracuse and LIU Brooklyn before losing to twelfth ranked Ohio State.
Penina Snuka led the way with 42 assists and 23 digs to add her Pac-12 leading 15th double-double while Tyler Spriggs had a career-high 18 kills.
While the Wildcats have gotten off of their skid, the Cougars seem to be on a downward spiral as they have now lost their sixth straight match and nine of their last 11. After starting the season 11-1 with 10 sweeps coming during that timeframe, the Cougars have faltered since the beginning of Pac-12 play as they are only 3-9 in conference. After being a team that was on the outside looking in of the top 25, the Cougars now find themselves in eleventh place in the conference.
The Wildcats have consistently had the Cougars number on the volleyball court as they have now swept the Cougars for the third straight season with their last defeat at the hands of the Cougars coming in November of 2012.
Sunday, the No. 3 Washington Huskies come to town in what looks to be a great matchup between top 20 teams. The Cougars come into the match at 20-2 with their two losses coming to second ranked USC and seventh ranked Stanford so there is a good possibility they would still be undefeated if they did not play in the rugged Pac-12.
While a win would put the Wildcats at .500 in the conference and the middle of the Pac-12 standings wise, the Cougars could still win the conference if they can keep steady with USC.
Last time these two teams tangled on October seventh, Washington pulled out a 3-1 victory and gave the Wildcats their first defeat at the hands of a then non top-10 opponent. They are coming off of a victory at number 20 Arizona State and are looking to add to their four-game winning streak.
“Washington is really good,” said Arizona volleyball coach Dave Rubio. “They’re No. 3 in the country and certainly deserving of that ranking. We’ll be well-prepared and we’ll lay it on the line.”
This crucial Pac-12 matchup is at noon at the McKale Center and will also be broadcasted live on Pac-12 Networks.
