(Tucson, AZ) McKale Center
The Wildcat’s weekend came to successful end as they won the Cactus Classic Invitational.
After dispatching Lipscomb and San Diego State on Friday, Zona set its sights on the University of Pacific to complete the task.
The first set Arizona came out slow trailing 2-7 because of a combination of passing and hitting errors when Head Coach Dave Rubio called time out.
With adjustments in place, the Cats reeled off five straight points to knot the score at 7-7.
The Tiger’s main weapon was freshman outside hitter Riley Patterson whos kills were precise and in between Zona’s blocks.
The Wildcats countered with sophomore Candace Denny, an outside hitter from Saratoga, CA. Her impact was immediate when she smashed a kill shot off the side of the court. That led to four straight points as Arizona retook the lead. The Tigers fought back to tie it back at 20-20.
The Cats defense stiffened and closed out the set with a 5-2 run to take it 25-22.
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In second set, Arizona once again fell behind 1-5 prompting Rubio to call his first time out of this set. Out of the break, Zona still wasn’t gaining any ground and 3-4 exchange in points trailed 4-9. Rubio wasted no time in calling a quick second time out.
Adjustments in place, the Wildcats pulled within two at 11-13 forcing Pacific to call their own time out.
After a McKenna Martin service ace put the Cats up 16-15, they closed out the set and won going away 25-19.
Going for the sweep, Arizona started the set better leading 4-2. The Tigers wanting to force at least a set 4, clawed back and forth with Zona 13-11 qt the midway point.
Junior setter Julia Patterson teamed up with senior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke on a gritty play with the ball heading out of bounds, Patterson set a perfect cross court opportunity for a Dahlke kill that brought the crowd to its feet. The Cats lead 15-11 and Pacific quickly called time out in an attempt to stop the momentum.
After a huge block and four points later, the Tigers call another timeout at the 18-12 mark.
Pacific not wanting to go away, a 5-3 run brought them within four at 21-17 forced a Wildcat timeout.
Arizona maintained a four point lead to win and sweep the Tigers 25-21 and remain undefeated at 6-0.
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Dahlke played her usual stellar game with 16 kills and 5 blocks. Devin Cross also was very effective with 5 blocks. The taller Wildcats played great defense and their blocks stymied Pacific all day.
Afterwards, Dave Rubio commented, “It was good to win.” He also when on to say that the Cat’s play was inconsistent but with the talent is this team possesses, you can still win games when you’re not particularly sharp, which was not the case last year.
One thing Rubio did mention is things will have to change heading into conference play.
Pacific 22 19 21
Arizona 25 25 25
