Arizona Volleyball has tough weekend versus Washington schools

The Arizona Volleyball team (14-4, 3-3) had a tough weekend of games, losing to both Washington schools in hard fought battles in Tucson.

It was a rough weekend for the Arizona Volleyball team. After a hot start to the season, the Wildcats have come back down to earth a bit, losing to No. 15 Washington and No. 22 Washington State at home.

Winning in the Pac-12 is never easy as we’ve stated before. It’s one of the toughest conferences to compete in, especially in volleyball.

Arizona Wildcats

Looking to take a major step forward in the conference, the Wildcats took to the court on Friday, looking to take on a talented Huskies team. From the get go, you could tell it was going to be a tough night.

The Huskies would get out to a 12-4 lead and despite Arizona’s best attempts to get this thing close, Arizona was unable to complete the comeback, losing the first set 25-18.

The second set wouldn’t be much better. Washington would jump out to a 5-0 lead before Arizona would finally get on the board. The Wildcats would then go on a 12-6 run to take the lead at 12-11, but the Huskies would respond pretty much exchanging leads from there on out, ultimately winning 25-23.

Down 2-0 and desperately needing a win, the Wildcats would fight in the third set, trying to extend this one. Washington would get out to an 10-4 lead, but Arizona would show resilience, rallying from behind to finally tie it at 23-23. However, Arizona’s comeback would come up short as Washington would win the set 25-23, ultimately losing the match 3-0.

Despite the loss, Kendra Dahlke would lead the way with 18 kills and Julia Patterson would add with 34 assists on her own.

Arizona would enter Sunday’s match-up hoping to redeem themselves from their loss to Washington.

From the start, the Wildcats came out strong. In the first set, Arizona would pretty much control it from start to finish, pacing themselves a 25-20 win.

The second set would be another solid one for Arizona. Exchanging points for much of the set, Arizona would finally gain control late in the set with a 22-21 lead, ultimately coming away with a 25-22 win.

In control with a 2-0 lead, the Wildcats would just need to win one more set, but unfortunately things would then would fall apart for Arizona. The Cougars would steal the third set in a close, 25-23 victory and then won the fourth set 25-20.

Tied at 2-2, it would come down to the fifth and final set. Arizona would come out a bit sluggish initially, but would respond about half way through the set.

Down 12-10, the Wildcats wouldn’t be able to fully recover, losing 15-13 in the fifth set, losing the match 3-2.

Dahlke would once again lead the way with kills, totaling 23 for the match, and junior middle blocker Devyn Cross added 14 of her own. Patterson would add 51 assists for the match.

With the losses, Arizona falls to 14-4 (3-3) on the season and will travel to Southern California next weekend in crucial matches against UCLA and USC. Both teams will provide tough match-ups and will be big tests for an Arizona team needing to get back on track.

At Zona Zealots, we would like to wish the Wildcats luck as they look to get back on track and face the Southern California schools! Bear Down, Arizona!