After a relatively disappointing outing at UC-Santa Barbara last weekend, the UA volleyball team rebounded in style as it took three of four matches at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Spring Classic and finished in first place in the round robin tournament.
The Wildcats swept their first three matches against UNLV, New Mexico and Montana before falling just short to ASU in the final match by a score of 25-15, 23-25, 15-12.
“”I thought we played our best volleyball individually and as a team since we started spring competition,”” said UA head coach Dave Rubio. “”It was a nice to finish to spring competition.””
The Wildcats had a big lead in the second set, but ASU stormed back and the Wildcats could never regain their momentum.
Rubio said he felt the young players really stepped it up through the offseason and was quite impressed with them, despite their lapse in the final match against ASU.
“”Whitney (Dosty) played terrific and showed what the future looks like,”” Rubio said of the outside hitter. “”At times she was playing spectacular.””
Rubio added that players like redshirt freshman middle blocker Kaylen Bannister and freshman setter Paige Weber also stepped up their level of play and hopes that translates into a promising future.
“”Potential only gets you so far, but we saw what the future can look like (for this team) and it’s very bright and exciting,”” he said.
Rubio added that the entire offseason has been a grind and will continue to be so until the end, but that’s the only way to improve, even when not facing competition.
“”The wins and losses are pretty insignificant,”” he said. “”It’s just a matter of developing players and trying to give as much polish as we can.
“”We are excited about the next phase of our training,”” Rubio added of the fall season in which the team will add three freshmen recently named to Volleyball Magazine’s Fab 50 list of the top prep players in the nation.
The Wildcats will continue their offseason training regimen for the next two weeks before taking the summer off.
