One day after stunning defending national champion Stanford, Arizona sophomore Kamalie Hiapo had to step away from her phone.
Family, former teammates, coaches and Wildcats fans bombarded the newly awarded Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week with praise for her effort in Friday’s win, the Wildcats’ first of the season.
Hiapo knew the job wasn’t finished yet. The Wildcats had one more match against the Cardinal left.
“I didn’t want any distractions,” Hiapo said.
Arizona beat the Cardinal in four sets (27-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-13) the following day, sweeping Stanford for the first time since 2005. Hiapo led the Cats with 17 digs.
“It’s really unusual Stanford ever gets swept,” UA coach Dave Rubio said this week. “Getting the texts and social media recognition certainly makes you feel good about the weekend.”
Rubio called the last few weeks inside the program as “pretty dramatic.” The Wildcats lost their first four matches of the season, and were swept in the first three.
With the rough start in the rear view, Rubio hopes the UA can keep up the big wins this weekend.
Arizona (2-4) will face Oregon (4-2) in Eugene on Friday and Sunday.
“We’re making some good, strong strides,” Rubio said.
Part of that turnaround stems from the stellar play of Hiapo and freshman Sofia Maldonado Diaz.
Diaz, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week a week ago. Days later, she combined for 26 kills in two matches against Stanford.
Hiapo, a libero, steadied UA’s defense against Stanford’s attack and led the Wildcats with 28 digs in two matches. The performance earned her the spot as the conference’s defensive player of the week.
“I knew (Hiapo) had the right DNA to become a great player in that position,” Rubio said. “Her instincts are almost unworldly, really, at a level that’s unusual for a player.”
With a roster among the youngest in the conference — the team only has one senior — Rubio admitted that it’s taken him a while to figure out the best lineup combination.
“I feel like I got a pretty good handle on that (now),” he said.
Now, beating last year’s national champions doesn’t mean upset wins are the expectation this season. However, it does provide the Wildcats a big boost in confidence.
“The second win was better,” Hiapo said. “We’re clicking as a team and we can get better from here.”
