Winning in straight sets is “nice,” according to Arizona volleyball head coach Rita Stubbs. Overcoming adversity may be more valuable, though. The Wildcats did just that in a reverse sweep of Boise State that saw each team squander multiple match points in the fifth before Arizona finished it out 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-19, 21-19).
“Intense, intense, intense, but good,” Stubbs said. “We needed to go through that. We needed to be pushed and challenged. If we want to be good, we gotta be able to come
back and compete and play. Super proud of how we stayed together as a team.”
The fifth set was a battle in itself. Arizona took a 5-2 lead and looked like it would close out the reverse sweep without much trouble. Boise State pushed back, using a 6-2 run to take a one-point lead. The runs went back and forth until the Wildcats reached match point at 14-12.
“I thought I was going to turn all gray,” Stubbs said. “My stomach was turning. But what I kept telling the players was, we had to go through something like this. We need to go through it. I don’t know why or when it’s going to come back and be something that we can rely on, but anytime you get to go a five set, then you’re learning how to battle and compete. It does us no good to win matches in three. I mean, it’s nice. Don’t get me wrong. But that’s not how you necessarily grow…We grew as a group today.”
Arizona needed five match points and a challenge to win. The Wildcats also had to save three Boise State match points.
In a match where Arizona outside hitter Jordan Wilson struggled for the first half, other Wildcats had to step up. Senior opposite Ana Heath was one of the players who met that call.
“I thought Ana stepped up today,” Stubbs said. “She was pretty impressive in terms of her attack line.”
Heath came up big despite not getting the start for the first time this season. She came in to replace Britt Carlson, who had relieved Heath the day before and was making her first start as a Wildcat.
It didn’t pay dividends at first. Boise State picked on the smaller block of Heath, but eventually the former setter got things going in a big way. She obliterated her previous high of five kills by finding the floor 19 times. She did it on 32 swings with just two hitting errors for a hitting percentage of .531.
It wasn’t just about the offense. Heath also got her block going. She had six total blocks, trailing only sophomore middle blocker Adrianna Bridges. The turnaround in Heath’s blocking from the beginning of the match was especially impressive.
“Her attack line was amazing,” Stubbs said. “She was 19/2 on 32 swings and had six block assists. I mean, that’s really impressive for what she was doing, and working on everything we’ve been talking about in practice.”
Boise State outblocked Arizona 6-2 in the first two sets. Heath didn’t have any blocks, and the Broncos were regularly scoring on her side. She had three block assists in the third set, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth.
“She listened to what we were saying,” Stubbs said. “So what was happening [in the early sets] was, we wanted to get all the way out to the antenna and then force them to go different places, but then they were hitting the ball down the line.”
Up Next for Arizona Volleyball
Arizona Wildcats (5-0) vs UC San Diego Tritons (1-4)
When: Saturday, Sept. 6 at 9 a.m. MST
Where: Bronco Gym in Boise, ID
Streaming: Mountain West Network
Stats: Arizona Live Stats
Heath adapted. It worked for her and the team.
Bridges joined fellow middle Sydnie Vanek and sophomore outside hitter Carlie Cisneros in being the primary offensive weapons early on as Wilson struggled. It was especially tough in the first set when Arizona’s star hitter had just one kill on 12 swings. As a team, Arizona hit just .143.
Cisneros responded with six kills in the opening frame, although she had some difficulty with efficiency and terminating. Not all of her teammates had that issue, though. Bridges went off for four kills on eight swings with one error (.375) in the first set. Vanek had three kills on five swings with no errors (.600).
Boise State was also very effective on serve. The Broncos had five aces over the first two sets. They ended the match with six.
“After we play a match, I’ll ask [the players] various questions,” Stubbs said. “The question they had yesterday was, if you were the opponents and they needed to beat us, what would you do? And so we talk about things. We don’t hold back and keep things obvious and talk about the elephant in the room. So we knew that they were going to either go after Carlie or Jordan in serve receive. We knew that they were going to tip the ball on us, which they did, and they were killing us in the first two just tipping.”
The first two sets were close. In the opening frame, the final tie came at 14-14. Boise State raised its game from there. The Broncos used a 7-1 run to go up 21-15. Arizona got within two points at 22-20, but the Wildcats didn’t really threaten the home team.
The Wildcats starte. Arizona had several small leads and the final tie came at 19 points each, but Boise State got the critical points at the end and went up 2-0.
That lit a fire under the Wildcats. They started the third set on an 8-1 run. When they reached set point, they had doubled up the Broncos 24-12. The match would continue, but Arizona couldn’t afford any missteps.
Boise State remained in contact with the Wildcats until they reached 18-16 in the fourth. Arizona’s 7-3 run closed things out and pushed it to a fifth.
Despite her difficulties early in the match, Wilson led the match with 22 kills, but she needed 69 swings to get there. A service ace and a block gave her 23.5 points. She also had an assist and nine digs.
Heath’s 19 kills on .531 hitting and six total blocks gave her a career high 22 points. She had eight digs.
Cisneros had a double-double with 13 kills and 19 digs. She also contributed two assists and two total blocks. She contributed 14 points.
The middles were both close to the double-digit mark for kills. Bridges and Vanek each had nine kills. Brigdes did it while hitting .333 and contributing three aces, seven total blocks, and two digs. Her teammate had five total blocks and one dig.
Arizona returns to the court on Saturday to finish the trip to Idaho. The Wildcats face UC San Diego at 9 a.m. to try to extend their winning streak to 17 straight matches going back to last season.
