The Arizona Wildcats had one big goal this year: get to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. No one talked about what would happen once they got there. They let their play do the talking in a strong 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-15) victory over the 7th-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
“We came out focused,” Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs said. “I mean, they’re a good team. They have a good outside hitter, and we just stayed true to our scouting report.”
Last time the Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament,
it was a short trip. They were swept out of the field by Missouri without much trouble. They only reached 20 points in one of the three sets. They hadn’t won a match in the tourney since 2016 when they made it to the regional semifinals under former head coach Dave Rubio.
“It’s my first tournament, period,” Stubbs said, adding, “Everything that we do and what we endure, and the achievements, I want it for the players. You know, when you get athletes, especially in this day and age, that buy into what’s going on, you get kids coming back, you get kids pushing and grinding and never complaining, you want it for them. So everything is for them, and that’s only thing I think about.”
The Wildcats were consistent and dominant for three of four sets. They even found their way in the one set they lost. They had just one hiccup.
“That was rotation one,” Stubbs said. “We struggled in that rotation…but I didn’t feel like we were ever just like, ‘Okay, let’s throw in the towel.‘ They stayed and we grinded. We got ourselves in a better position.”
That rotation had SDSU libero Joslyn Richardson serving. She served nine straight points to start the second set. The run only ended due to a hitting error by Rylee Martin.
“Digging out of an 8-0 hole is pretty difficult,” Stubbs said.
It was an aberration, anyway. Arizona found both offense and defense from everywhere on the court for most of the night.
Both outside hitters were effective. Both middles were effective. Arizona got help from the right side. Three players had double-doubles and five had double-digit digs. While the Jackrabbits came in ranked third in the country in blocks per set, the Wildcats won the blocking game 10-6.
Arizona’s outside hitters both had double-doubles. Jordan Wilson led the match with 24 kills on an impressive .340 hitting. The 24th ace gave the Wildcats match point. Her ace and five total blocks gave her 27.5 points, which also led the match. She got her double-double with 11 digs.
Fellow OH Carlie Cisneros got a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs. Her final kill ended the match. She had two aces and two total blocks, with one solo block, to give her 21.5 points. She also had an assist.
“They looked at what was in front of them and they were picking the right line,” Stubbs said about her outside hitters. “Very rarely did I even question, maybe once out of all of those swings for each of them, I’m wondering, what are you trying to get right here? But to me, it was nice to see them absorb what was going on in terms of what the defense was for South Dakota State. And then they just went up there and they picked their line, and they stayed aggressive.”
Setter Avery Scoggins accounted for the third double-double with 58 assists and 12 digs. She contributed two kills and three total blocks for 3.5 points.
Arizona’s variety kept the Jackrabbits off balance. The Wildcats got production from reserves both in the middle and on the right side.
Sydnie Vanek played parts of all four sets, but she had her biggest impact later in the match after taking over for Adrianna Bridges. Vanek ended with 10 kills on a match-high .643 hitting, giving Arizona three attackers with double-digit kills. She also had one total block for 10.5 points.
Starting middle Journey Tucker had another big night for the Wildcats to complement Vanek. Tucker was just short of giving Arizona four players with double-digit kills. She ended with nine on .381 hitting. She led the match with six total blocks to contribute 12 points. She also had one dig.
On the right side, freshman Renee Jones started, but Britt Carlson had the biggest impact. The junior had four kills without an error, ending with a .333 hitting percentage. She also contributed an assist and three digs.
“It was nice that…Britt was able to go in and step up and be amazing, and then Sydnie going in again, doing great,” Stubbs said. “So it was great, but it was a true team effort. That challenge, the bench told me it was in, so I challenged it and was able to give them high fives. So can’t lose sight of that.”
That team effort was evident in the defense. In addition to the three players with double-doubles, Arizona got double-digit digs from libero Brenna Ginder (14) and defensive specialist Haven Wray (16).
“That was all because of our ability to serve, and I’m going to continue to say that it’s about serving to being blockers, to allow the defenders to play behind the block,” Stubbs said. “So was it Avery, Brenna, Carlie, Jordan, and Hayden, right? Oh, okay, awesome, awesome. But they played every ball as if it was the last, and that’s exactly…how you have to play when you’re in the tournament.”
Arizona never trailed in the opening set. An early 4-1 run put the Wildcats up 10-6. While the Jackrabbits got close a couple of times, it never seemed like a true threat as UA answered each time. Eventually, the lead ballooned to eight at 21-13.
SDSU didn’t go away easily, though. The Jackrabbits went on an 8-1 run to make it a one-point set, but Arizona responded with a 3-0 run to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The run at the end of the previous set gave South Dakota State confidence and momentum. Its 8-0 run to open the second established the tone of the set. Arizona chipped away and eventually cut the lead to one point at 19-18, but it couldn’t overcome the early deficit.
SDSU had half of its six total blocks in the second set and Arizona’s hitting percentage dropped from .292 in the first to .098 in the second. On several occasions, the Wildcats paid for hitting straight into the block.
Richardson went back to serve to start the third set, but she didn’t have the same success against the Wildcats’ serve receive as she did in the second. Her first serve ended in a Vanek kill.
The last tie came at 6-6. An 8-2 Arizona run gave the Wildcats a six-point lead at 14-8. The closest South Dakota State got after that was four points at 15-11. From there, UA scored four straight to push the lead to eight. SDSU only scored four more in the set.
SDSU was one of the teams that got an at-large bid over Arizona last season, putting an end to the Wildcats’ tournament dreams. UA was in position to put an end to the Jackrabbits’ tournament run this year. It just needed one set.
Arizona won that set fairly easily. The final tie was at 3-3. While South Dakota State had trouble stringing points together, UA scored at least two in a row five straight times to take a 15-7 lead. From there, the Wildcats maintained a lead of at least four points for the rest of the match.
Up Next
Arizona will meet the winner of the late match between No. 2 seed Stanford and Utah Valley at 7 p.m. MST on Saturday, Dec. 6. Stanford’s starting setter did not start the match against UVU, and the Wolverines took the opening set. The Cardinal had leveled the match at 1-1 and led 16-9 in the third set just after 9:15 p.m. MST.
“They got a real big middle, which is similar to what we just faced in terms of the size, and then they have an outside hitter similar to number 10,” Stubbs said about Stanford. “So in a lot of ways, they’re very similar to what South Dakota State does, except they do it at a higher level. But I heard that their starting setter was out. I don’t know the answer to that. I’m about to go in there and scout right now, but if she’s out, that makes a world of difference for them.”
