It’s been a tough balancing act for the Wildcats.
The playbook looks a lot different from the one UA volleyball coach Dave Rubio drew up to start the season, because the team is playing with a short bench due to injuries.
The result had been eight losses in nine matches to start the Pac-12 season heading into Sunday.
UA lost an oh-so-close match to Oregon State on Friday night 3-2 after leading 2-0.
Sunday started off with the Wildcats again leading by two sets, but then in the fourth set they rewrote the script and won 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24) at McKale Center over Oregon.
Arizona improves to 12-10 overall and 2-8 in Pac-12 play, while Oregon drops to 6-13, 2-8 in Pac-12.
This win stopped a five-match losing streak. Both of UA’s conference wins have come at home.
“It feels good,” junior outside hitter Katie Smoot said. “We haven’t had a win in a while. So, it’s nice to finally switch it up and hopefully this will give bring in momentum going into the second half of conference.”
Paige Whipple had 17 kills in the win, while Devyn Cross added a career-high 16. Emi Pua’a notched 18 digs and Kamaile Hiapo chipped in with 16.
This win was a long time coming. Despite dropping the last five matches, Arizona has been competitive and in the thick of each of them.
“I thought Friday night we were so close,” Rubio said. “It was agonizing to lose in a match that was so close. Today was kind of a repeat of that. I was sitting on the bench in game three and I was like this is déjà vu. I’m really proud of how we handled it.
“I’m proud of the kids. I am happy for them because they certainly work hard and the hardships that go with what we are dealing with. It’s nice to get rewarded with a win. So, it feels pretty good.”
After dropping the third set and falling behind in the fourth, the Wildcats came alive down after being down 19-13.
Rubio called a timeout. In the huddle he shared the same message he did Friday night: “You have to win it. They aren’t going to give you the match. You have to take the match away from them.”
“I said, ‘Here we are again, guys. Either we are going to compete or we are going to stand around and hope we can win.’ And you know how that goes. It didn’t work on Friday, it’s not going to work tonight.’ So, it was nice for us to do what we need to do, act the way we needed to act and compete the way we needed to compete in order to win.
Everyone contributed to the run including Zyonna Fellows, Smoot, Hiapo, and Julia Patterson.
UA next visits Colorado on Friday night. The Wildcats swept the Buffaloes, who are 0-10 in the Pac-12, at home earlier this year.
