The Arizona volleyball team defeated visitor Oregon State University Sunday, 3-2 (25-16, 21-25, 25-23, 20-25,15-10).
To wrap up Homecoming and show off their costumes, Arizona fans and alumni filled McKale Center Sunday at 12 p.m. for a Halloween-themed match. It was a spooky back-and-forth contest of five sets. After the Wildcats won the first set confidently, Oregon State gave them more than they anticipated. This led to the five-set rally for Arizona’s match win.
The Wildcats came up from last week’s game against No. 18 Oregon, where they lost 0-3. Oregon State also came off a 3-1 loss on Friday to Arizona State. When Arizona and Oregon State met in late September, the Wildcats won in a straight sweep.
Set 1 (25-16)
The Wildcats had a strong first set. Throughout the first set, Arizona tended to dominate the scoreboard as they were quick to take a lead with up to a 9-point difference. Junior outside hitter Jaelyn Hodge had the most kills after accumulating 6 for the Wildcats. Junior setter Emery Herman led with 13 assists, the most out of the team in this set.
Set 2 (21-25)
Oregon State started strong in the second set, attempting to take the lead but only got as far as 3 points before UA scored their first. Throughout the set, the scoreboard was too close for comfort, and there were no major deficits between the teams. As the set continued, OSU was able to test UA, and while they were able to put up a fight, it wasn’t enough for them to stop the Beaver from scoring their 25th point. Wildcats’ junior outside hitter Sofia Maldonado Dias was the kill leader with a total of 9 points, which was tied with OSU’s Mychael Vernon. Vernon was also the attack, blocking, and point leader for the Beavers.
Set 3 (25-23)
The Beavers gave the Wildcats more than they anticipated, a pattern that continued in the third set. Many lead changes were made by both teams, though neither team gained more than a two-point advantage as a tie took the scoreboard over a dozen times throughout this set. In the last few minutes of the game, it seemed like that was it for Arizona. The score was tied 23-23 until Hodge was able to hit two more kills against OSU’s server Jalees Caroccio.
Set 4 (20-25)
This set started and ended similarly to the last one. Oregon State took the lead during this set quickly, although the common sequence of a tie seen in the first three sets didn’t take long to unravel. The Wildcats attempted to come back after the Beavers got ahead, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the 5-point deficit that gave OSU the win for this set.
Set 5 (14-10)
In the fifth set, Arizona finally commanded their statement that the Beavers were not sticking around much longer. At this point, Hodge and Maldonado were dominating the Wildcats with kills mainly assisted by Herman, bringing them up to a 7-point lead. Oregon State attempted to come back but failed. They got up to ten points before Arizona scored their fifteenth.
Arizona’s record is now 13-10 and 3-9 in conference play, and Oregon State’s 7-15 and 2-10 in conference play. Up next, the Wildcats will visit and go for a match against UCLA on Nov. 4.
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