Last weekend, Zyonna Fellows did something no Wildcats volleyball player has ever done before.
Arizona’s fifth-year middle blocker recorded 12 blocks during Sunday’s 25-13, 25-23, 25-22 win over Cal in McKale Center. It’s the most ever by a player in a three-set match.
The victory helped the Wildcats (12-7, 2-6) forge a split with the Bay Area schools after they were swept by No. 6 Stanford in the opener. Arizona will take on Washington State on Friday at 7 p.m. and Washington on Saturday at noon. Friday’s match will be shown on Pac-12 Arizona.
Fellows is “the heart and soul of our team,” coach Dave Rubio said. “She is such a good leader,” Rubio said. “She has a great demeanor and she’s so selfless out there. She is really playing at a high level.”
Fellows credits her performance to the team’s effort and attitude on the court.
“We had so much energy that game, everybody was encouraging each other,” she said. “There was no negative faces, negative attitudes, so I think that fueled me to keep going and each block I got it just got me more motivated to get more.”
That it came following a straight-sets loss to Stanford made things even sweeter. Fellows had just two blocks, three kills and two digs against the Cardinal in a 25-23, 25-22, 25-16 loss. Her attack percentage of -.091 was worst among Arizona’s regulars.
Rubio told Fellows after the match that her “demons of self-doubt came back to haunt you” against Stanford. Less than an hour later, Fellows was watching tape and sending it to Rubio.
“I told her that great players are not whether or not you’ll have a bad game because you’re going to have a bad game. It’s whether or not you are going to try and take the steps necessary to become better the next time you play,” Rubio said. “And that’s what great players do.”
Arizona trailed Cal by five points early in the second set and by seven points in the third set before rallying to win them both. While Rubio appreciated the effort, he was disappointed that Arizona had to rally in the first place.
“But sometimes that happens,” he said, “and it was nice we were able to play well enough to come back in those matches.”
This weekend, Arizona middle blocker Zyonna Fellows will make her final trip to her native Washington as a member of the Wildcats’ volleyball team.
This weekend will be special for Fellows, a native of Seattle. She turned 23 on Thursday, and will be able to spend her birthday weekend in her home state.
It will mark her final time playing the Huskies and Cougars, too.
“It feels amazing, honestly,” she said. “The more I think about it, the more I get sad because It’s slowly coming to an end.”
