Arizona Volleyball: Arizona Falls In First Round of NCAA Tournament

For the second year in a row, Arizona Women’s Volleyball was swept off the court, failing to make it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Pac-12 has been the darlings of women’s volleyball all season, with most of the teams ranked in the top 25 this fall.  In fact, leading the way is the tournament’s No. 1 seed, USC.  Last year Arizona was run out of the tournament by Brigham Young, the only solace being that BYU got hot and finished as the national runner-up.

This year had the Wildcats won in the first round they likely would have revenge on their minds as they would have met BYU in the second round on the Cougars’ home floor.

A rematch was not to be as Western Kentucky beat the Wildcats in three sets, 25-22, 25-15, and 25-17.   Arizona was one of the last four teams invited to the NCAAs.  Because the Pac-12 beats each other up, their record wasn’t stellar. However, the tournament recognized the tough competition and awarded the Pac-12 seven slots.

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The WKU Hilltoppers aren’t just representing Conference USA, they are carrying the banner of conference champions with a record of 31-3, and are currently ranked No. 20 in the country.  WKU may deserve a higher ranking; they have a talented team and due to their conference are likely playing under the radar.

Arizona scored the first two points of the match.  After that, the Lady Toppers took over and built leads in each set, sometimes by as many as seven points.  Georgia O’Connell, a junior libero, came into the match leading her team with 29 aces.  She was effective throughout the night as the Lady Toppers defended Arizona beautifully.

Like many of the Wildcats teams this fall, the volleyball team was missing a key player due to injury.  Kalei Mau was on the sidelines again with a concussion and likely would have missed the second round as well had Arizona advanced.  Mau lead the Wildcats this year in kills, and those were clearly missing against WKU.  Her play this season led to recognition by the Pac-12, along with Arizona’s best server, Penina Snuka.

By the end of the match, setter Jessica Lucas of Western Kentucky had ten kills, with no errors.  Early in the match Arizona used only one blocker, which was ineffective and kept the Wildcats on their heels.  However, in the second set, middle blocker McKenzie Jacobson was a bright light for Arizona with some key blocks at the net.

Arizona was the third unseeded Pac-12 school to lose their first NCAA tournament match this year, following in the footsteps of Arizona State and Oregon.  How can this happen to the mighty Pac-12?

Here are a couple thoughts.  One theory is the Pac-12 competition week in and week out may have taken an emotional toll, and we know it has taken a physical toll on several conference stars.

On the other side of the country, Western Kentucky’s coach, Travis Hudson, has been the Lady Topper’s coach for 21 years.  He has built such a successful program so he can recruit talent from the tri-state area due to the program’s national recognition.  The Pac-12 teams compete against themselves for key talent out west.

Next: Arizona Basketball vs. Gonzaga

So another season has ended for Arizona volleyball.  No doubt they will come out next fall ready to charge through the Pac-12 once again, hopefully positioning themselves for a strong run in the 2016 NCAA tournament.

Until then, BearDown Arizona Volleyball.