Arizona Volleyball (12-1, 1-0) cruises to a convincing win over visiting Arizona State Sun Devils to begin Pac-12 Conference play.
The Wildcats are on a roll! Winners of three straight, as well as 11 of their last 12 meetings entering Thursday, the Arizona Volleyball team had a marquee match-up versus rival ASU.
After a stellar non-conference performance, Pac-12 play finally began on Thursday evening and McKale was certainly rocking. In the first match-up of what will be many for Arizona Athletics versus ASU, this set a nice tone for 2018-19.
Arizona Wildcats
Fresh off their weekend victories, as well as head coach Dave Rubio’s 500th overall, Arizona came out poised, ready and focused in this one. From the start, it was all Arizona.
Trading points back and forth for much of the first set, the Wildcats would start to pull away about halfway through the set, ultimately securing the first set by a 25-18 final.
Arizona’s second set would be a bit closer throughout. Essentially trading points up until near the end, luckily it was a few crucial rallies that gave the Wildcats a bit of a cushion, ultimately cruising to the 25-21 victory!
Needing another strong showing to sweep this match in three sets, Arizona would respond in a big way!
ASU would fight in this one to keep it close, challenging the Wildcats step-for-step, even taking a narrow 13-12 lead nearly halfway through. However, after three straight kills by sophomore outside hitter Katie Smoot, the Wildcats took the lead at 15-13 and seemingly never looked back.
From then on, ASU would add a few points, but it was the shear dominance by Arizona that put this one out of reach, ultimately securing the 25-18 set victory and overall match victory by a 3-0 final!
CATS WIN!
— Arizona Volleyball (@ArizonaVBall) September 21, 2018
Arizona SWEEPS Arizona State in McKale! #BearDown | #BeatASU pic.twitter.com/WwzB1jIFXR
Senior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke led the way with 14 kills for the match, and junior setter Julia Patterson added with 37 assists!
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 12-1 (1-0) on the season, but unfortunately the road gets significantly tougher. Arizona will travel to Palo Alto, CA this Sunday to take on No. 2 Stanford 9-1 (1-0).
At Zona Zealots, we are happy for the win, especially as it came against ASU. Hopefully the Wildcats can ride the momentum and pull off the upset against a talented Stanford team! Bear Down, Arizona!