Arizona Volleyball sweeps defending National Champions Stanford

Led by their stellar freshmen class, the Arizona Volleyball sent a message sweeping away the defending National Champion Stanford on Friday night.

Taking on a pair of Top 15 opponents the past two weeks, the Arizona Volleyball team took a major step forward as they handled No. 7 Stanford by sweeping away the Cardinal in dominating fashion 25-17, 25-16, and 25-13 in three sets on Friday night in Tucson.

One of the major hiccups of the Wildcats early on in the season was the unforced errors. On Friday, they were able largely bring those under control, showing just how special the future is for Volleyball at Arizona.

Arizona Wildcats

Led by the unquestionable MVP in Sofia Maldonado Diaz who chipped in 10 Kills, a pair of aces, and a block, the Wildcats controlled the tempo throughout the night.

Emery Herman once again directed the Wildcats attack, handing out 23 assists, in addition to her five kills, and a block in the sweep. Also, Arizona got big contributions from Paige Whipple with 7 kills hitting at a .294 clip, Jaelyn Hodge with 8 kills, and Zyonna Fellows who added 3 blocks for Dave Rubio’s Wildcats.

As a team, the Wildcats easily set season highs in kill percentage as they hit .483 in the first set, .345 in the second, and .500 in the third set for a match total of .440. The Wildcats also recorded a season-high side-out percentage of 69.4 percent and a scoring percentage of 56.2.

Not your normal Stanford Squad

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this was Stanford’s opening game of the delayed 2020 season, as they have found themselves restricted by strict lockdown procedures in Santa Clara County. There may be a much different look and feel to Sunday’s rematch against the Cardinal.

Maldonado Diaz Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week

Following last Weekend’s two-game set with Washington, the Pac-12 Conference tabbed Sofia Maldonado Diaz as the conference Freshman of the Week. Her performance on Saturday was an all-timer for Arizona Volleyball as she had 25 kills and hit .439. The 25 kills were the most for a Wildcat freshman since Tiffany Owens had 25 kills herself back in 2007.