Arizona volleyball’s struggles continue as Wildcats drop their fourth straight

The Wildcats remain winless in conference play

Nathaniel Levin

October 2, 2023

The Arizona volleyball team huddles together after a game against ASU on Sept. 21 in McKale Center. The Wildcats would lose to ASU 1 match to 3.

The Arizona volleyball team‘s struggles continued as the Wildcats dropped both games in the Bay Area over the weekend. The Wildcats (5-10, 0-4 in Pac-12) lost to the University of California in four sets on Friday, Sept. 29, and then were swept by No. 3 Stanford University on Sunday, Oct. 1.

Thursday, Sept. 29: Cal

Set results: 24-26, 20-25, 25-20, 18-25

The Wildcats jumped out early in the opening set, leading 7-4. Arizona would control most of the first set, leading 21-16 late. However, Cal used a 7-0 run to take a 23-21 lead before pulling away to win 26-24, stealing the opening set from the Wildcats.

In the second set, Arizona again jumped out to an early lead, but Cal would quickly counter, regaining control and ultimately cruising to a 25-20 victory to take a 2-0 lead.

Arizona came out aggressive in the third set; Sofia Maldonado Diaz, Jaelyn Hodge and Jordan Wilson combined for ten kills in the set, helping the Wildcats avoid the three-set sweep, winning 25-20.

Cal quickly ran away from the Wildcats in the fourth and final set, leading 15-4 at the set’s halfway point. The Wildcats could not mount a late set comeback, as Cal cruised to the 25-18 victory, winning the match 3-1.

Hodge, Wilson and Maldonado Diaz led the Wildcats, combining for 39 of the Wildcats 42 kills in the match.

Sunday, Oct. 1: No. 3 Stanford

Set results: 8-25, 14-25, 23-25

No. 3 Stanford proved why they are one of the nation’s top teams, as they opened the first set with a dominant performance, cruising past the Wildcats 25-8.

The Wildcats took an early 8-5 lead in the second set before Stanford shifted gears, taking a 15-10 lead by the set’s midway point. Arizona cut the deficit to four points before the Cardinal closed the set on a 7-0 run to win the second set 25-14.

Unlike the first two sets, the Wildcats kept the third set close with 11 ties throughout. After trailing late in the set, the Wildcats mounted a late comeback to tie the game at 22 before Stanford scored the final three points to win the third and final set 25-23 to complete the sweep.

It was a tough match for Arizona against an outstanding Stanford team. Arizona could only manage to get 30 kills as compared to 49 kills by the Cardinal team. Moreover, they only got one ace, whereas Stanford had nine aces.