Arizona Volleyball drops two games against No. 11 Washington

TUCSON, AZ - FEBRUARY 23: Arizona Wildcats mascot Wilbur T. Wildcat performs before the start of the college basketball game against the USC Trojans at McKale Center on February 23, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - FEBRUARY 23: Arizona Wildcats mascot Wilbur T. Wildcat performs before the start of the college basketball game against the USC Trojans at McKale Center on February 23, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Facing yet another Top 15 opponent for the second-straight week, the Arizona Volleyball program suffered another weekend sweep, this time at the hands of the No. 11 Washington Huskies (3-0, 3-2).

With Arizona Volleyball hosting their home opener Friday night, there was an expectation that there would be some solid growth no matter the final results. Well, Dave Rubio’s side made great strides despite the sweep at the hands of No. 11 Washington, losing 25-21, 25-20, and 29-27.

Paige Whipple started to find her groove, and Sofia Maldonado Diaz took another big step forward but it was Maldonado Dias who led all hitters with 14 kills on Friday evening. Whipple finished a close second with 11, as they were the only two attackers to reach double-digit kills for the Cats. Emery Herman firmly grabbed the reigns of the offense, dishing out 35 assists for the Wildcats.

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats

However, once again, the main area that did Arizona in on Friday evening was their errors. Overall, Arizona had 26 attacking errors, nine serving, and seven receiving errors, and as coach Dave Rubio said during his in post-game availability “the game is the game”, and when you cost yourself 42 points due to errors in a match as tight as Friday’s you will seldom find success.

Following their Friday evening loss, Arizona was back at it again on Saturday, where they got their first taste of winning, taking Washington the distance before falling in five sets (25-19, 17-25, 27-25, 21-25, 13-15).

This match appeared to be the freshmen breakout game that Coach Rubio has been needing. Maldonado Diaz (25 Kills, 3 Block Assists, 11 Digs, 1 Ace), Herman (8 Kills, 53 Assists, 13 Digs, 3 Block assists), Jaelyn Hodge (12 Kills, 2 Block Assists), and China Rai Crouch (5 Kills, 1 Block, and 5 Block Assists) all had big days for the Wildcats. Diaz once again led all hitters in kills, while Crouch led all blockers defensively.

Bounce back weekend for Whipple

Needing a response coming off a rough weekend in Salt Lake City the weekend prior, Paige came back strong, recording double-digit kills in both matches for the Wildcats with 11 kills on Friday and 10 on Saturday, respectively. This past weekend was very much a step in the right direction heading into the weekend set against Stanford.

This Weekend vs. Stanford is Questionable

Caught up in the craziness that is the Corona Virus Pandemic, Stanford resides in arguably the strictest counties in the nation, Santa Clara. The Cardinal have had their first four matches at USC and their home game against Colorado canceled. Head coach Kevin Hambly told Volleyball Magazine two weeks ago, “I think we’re five weeks away, probably, from being able to play.”

With the strict protocols governing Santa Clara county currently, it is hard to see any way Stanford comes to Tucson despite the games still currently scheduled, as the quarantine on the return would likely put another two weeks of games in jeopardy.

Schedule

Schedule