University of Washington
Arizona
Arizona Trips Up Husky Volleyball, 3-1
November 20, 2010 | Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2010
TUCSON, Ariz. - Arizona topped 11th-ranked Washington in four sets tonight in the final regular season road match for the Husky volleyball squad. The 22nd-ranked Wildcats (20-7, 9-7 Pac-10) honored its seniors in their final home match, and were able to hold off a UW comeback attempt with a 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 25-22 victory in front of 1,409 fans at the McKale Center.
Washington (19-8, 8-8 Pac-10) could not slow down Wildcats senior Tiffany Owens, who had 26 kills and 26 digs while hitting .440. The Huskies were solid on offense, hitting .238, but Arizona hit .261 for the night, and had a big lead in total kills, 69-50. Seniors Kindra Carlson and Becky Perry had 18 and 14 kills, respectively, but no other Husky had more than seven kills. Redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini was strong on defense with 23 digs.
The Dawgs had a tough go on the road during Pac-10 play, going 3-6 overall. Washington will host the Oregon schools next weekend to close out the regular season. Oregon is up first on Friday, November 26, at 7 p.m.
The teams were locked up in a close battle early in the first set, as the first two point lead did not come until 13-11, after Carlson finished consecutive points for the Huskies. Carlson then powered a 3-0 run with a block assisted by sophomore Kylin Muñoz and then back-to-back aces for an 18-16 lead. But after an Arizona timeout, the Wildcats ran off four-straight points to regain control. Back came UW, with kills by Carlson and Perry producing another one-point lead at 22-21. But UA's Courtney Karst earned the next two points for Arizona, and after a UW timeout, Owens got a kill to get set points at 24-22. Perry's attack missed on the next rally and Arizona had snagged the first set. UW hit just .158 in the first set while Arizona was at .268. The set featured 18 ties and nine lead changes.
Set two saw Arizona gain the early 10-7 edge after a three-point run that forced a Husky timeout. Five times UW trimmed the lead to two, but Arizona then went on another 3-0 run to open up a 17-12 lead and the Huskies needed their last timeout. After the break, Washington battled back with a 6-2 run to trim the lead to one at 19-18 and force Arizona's first timeout. Bianca Rowland had a solo roof in the run, and Carlson and Lauren Barfield sent back another UA swing to aid the effort. But UW couldn't even it up; despite pulling within one on three more occasions, the Huskies were unable to get the point on their own serve. After a Rowland kill made it 22-21, Arizona ran off the final three points of the set to take the 2-0 lead. UW hit better in the set at .250 but Arizona also improved to .311.
Washington came out fired up after intermission, and two kills from Muñoz and an ace from Kelcey Dunaway made it 7-3 and forced an early Wildcats timeout. But Dunaway continued her run as Carlson had a kill and a block assisted by Rowland, and after a UA error, the Wildcats needed timeout again already trailing 10-3. Again, Dunaway continued to fluster the home team, as the next point ended on a Rowland rejection, and then Carlson added another kill to make it 12-3, before Arizona finally stopped the 7-0 run. Perry then reeled off three consecutive kills, the latter two on Arizona blocking errors, and it was 18-7 Dawgs. Washington cruised to the finish of the set, 25-18. The Huskies dominated the numbers, outhitting Arizona .361-.184 led by Perry's six kills, and Muñoz who had three kills and no errors on four swings.
The Huskies looked to be carrying the momentum over into the fourth set as they tried to force a fifth. UW took a 5-2 lead with Arizona making four errors, one forced by a Muñoz and Barfield block. But down 4-7, the Wildcats took the next three points to tie it back up. A Perry finish interrupted the run, but UA put away the next three points as well to take a 10-8 lead and force UW's first timeout. The Huskies missed on the next point as well, before Carlson broke UW out of the 7-1 slide. The teams traded the next several points until a Muñoz kill and an Arizona error brought the Dawgs within one at 16-15. But Arizona pushed back ahead with the next two points and UW took time. Washington continued to sideout but could not get a run going until pulling back within one at 23-22 on another Muñoz finish. Arizona took its last timeout, and came back out and got two final kills from Owens on the next two points to take the set, 25-22. The Huskies dropped back to .182 on offense in the set and were out-dug, 17-11.
