Arizona Volleyball kicked off Homecoming Weekend with a big win over California on Friday but unfortunately fell to No. 2 Stanford Sunday afternoon.
Coach Dave Rubio has had his share of challenges this season with many new faces on the team. Some matches have gone great, and others, like against Stanford and Oregon State earlier this month, have not been close.
On Friday the Wildcats never gave the Golden Bears a chance to get in a groove, winning in straight sets 25-16, 25-15, and 25-13. Here are some highlights of a happy bunch of Wildcats whose hitting percentage was a key stat against Cal.
3⃣7⃣ - 9⃣ - 6⃣8⃣ (.4⃣1⃣2⃣)
— Arizona Volleyball (@ArizonaVBall) October 28, 2017
Arizona's .412 hitting percentage tonight was its best in a conference match since the Pac-12 started in 2011. pic.twitter.com/nzRoY6F5Kz
Friday night was also the start of Homecoming Weekend for Arizona. The football team had a big win against No.15 Washington State Saturday night, Arizona Women’s Soccer also beat WSU on Sunday afternoon, so it would be fitting for Arizona Volleyball to close out this special weekend with a big win over the Stanford Cardinal, who is undefeated in the Pac-12.
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Early in the first set, Arizona stayed close to Stanford, but then the Cardinal went on a tear and won the first set 25-15. The second set was no better, even though the Pac-12 Network announcers tried to find something positive to take away. The Wildcats lost the second set 25-16. Arizona is building for the future, but there were too many times the team was out of position and had unnecessary service errors.
During the intermission, the announcers tried to paint a rosy picture during the interview with Coach Rubio. He didn’t fall for it as he thanked the commentators for trying to be positive. He mentioned the service errors and compared Arizona’s play to a junior high game. Ouch. Meanwhile, Stanford’s first year coach Kevin Hambly acknowledged the Wildcats weren’t playing well, but predicted Coach Rubio would fire them up during the intermission.
Through two sets, Arizona’s freshman middle blocker Candice Denny had no errors, so there was a ray of hope. On the other side of the net, Stanford’s outside hitter Kathryn Plummer had 10 kills and a .643 hitting percentage through two sets. And as Coach Hambly predicted, the Wildcats came out for the third set fired up. Early on they maintained a two point lead, and in the middle of the set the points went back and forth.
S3 (2-0 Stan) | Set 3 is coming down to the wire. @spriggs_t gives the Cats a 21-20 lead with her sixth kill.
— Arizona Volleyball (@ArizonaVBall) October 29, 2017
Arizona was right with the Cardinal and maybe they could pull out this third set and get some momentum in McKale. Unfortunately, the more experienced Stanford Cardinal won 25-23. Stanford now holds a 68-7 all-time lead in wins over Arizona Volleyball. Here is hoping that final set against one of the best teams in the country will propel the Wildcats for their next game.
Next: More Arizona Sports--Arizona Soccer Wins
All in all, we can’t complain about the sports results this Homecoming Weekend at U of A. Thanks to Arizona Volleyball for getting it started. If anyone is going to Los Angeles to watch No. 23 Arizona Football take on USC next Saturday, check out an Arizona Volleyball match while you’re there. They play UCLA Friday night at Pauley Pavilion and USC on Sunday at the Galen Center. It would be great for the team to hear “U of A” during their volleyball matches.