It was a big match for the Arizona Wildcats. They went to Ames, IA tied with Iowa State at 5-2 in the Big 12 standings. Despite a strong showing by sophomore Carlie Cisneros in the third set, the Cyclones dominated the Wildcats on both offense and defense to take the 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-23) win and end Arizona’s three-match winning streak.
The Cyclones had 51 kills to Arizona’s 39. They hit .309 compared to .195 for the Wildcats. On defense, they had 65 digs to 54 for UA.
Jordan Wilson had her third
straight double-double and the fourth in her last five matches. She tied for the match high with 14 kills, doing it on .231 hitting. Her 11 digs gave her the double-double.
It was Cisneros who found her offensive game when the Wildcats were fighting to stay in the match, though. The sophomore had three kills with two errors in the first set, three kills with one error in the second, and went off for six kills without an error in the third and final set. Cisneros ended with 12 kills on .250 hitting and nine digs.
The only other Wildcat to hit .250 or better was middle blocker Journey Tucker. Tucker had six kills on 12 swings without an error, giving her a .500 hitting percentage. She also contributed three digs and a match-high four total blocks. She was third on the team with eight points.
The match looked like it Arizona might have an edge when it started on a 4-0 run, but Iowa State quickly closed the gap and was never really bothered for the rest of the match. The teams stayed close until the final tie at 16 points. The Wildcats stalled there and only scored three more points in the set.
The Cyclones got multiple players going in the latter part of the set. From the 16-16 tie, they had five different players record at least one kill and got one of their four aces. The variety allowed Maya Duckworth to get going. She had three of the team’s seven kills down the stretch.
Up Next for Arizona Volleyball
No. 6 ASU Sun Devils (16-2, 7-0) @ Arizona Wildcats (11-7, 5-3)
When: Saturday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. MST
Where: McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
Streaming: ESPN+
Stats: Arizona Live Stats
ISU got going much more quickly in the second set. The Cyclones were up 7-2 when Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs called time. That seemed to spur the team. The Wildcats went on their own 7-2 run to tie the set at nine points.
ISU pushed the lead back out to three points at 17-14, then Arizona tied it again at 19. The Wildcats didn’t score again. UA had a tough time siding out when Reagan Hanfelt stepped to the service line, as was the case most of the night.
Serve receive was tough for Arizona all evening. Hanfelt served a match-high 21 points and had all four of the Cyclones’ aces. ISU had three other servers with double-digit serves, ranging from 11 to 13. The Wildcats’ top server in points served was setter Avery Scoggins, who served 17 points and had one of the team’s two aces. Brenna Ginder served 13 points and Giorgia Mandotti had 10 serves.
Cisneros opened the third set with a kill that put Arizona up 1-0, but she really got going once the team fell behind 10-5. Arizona also got offense from a variety of sources as it put together a run. Cisneros had three kills and got offensive help from Tucker, Wilson, and Ana Heath to tie the set at 15.
From that point, Arizona had a tough time stringing points together. ISU had three runs of two points, but UA didn’t score more than one in a row until it was down set point at 24-20. The Wildcats won three straight to wipe away three set points, forcing the Cyclones to call time. The emerged from the break to close it out on an attack error by Wilson.
The Wildcats were set to return home on their first charter flight of the season. It was necessitated by the fact that they have to play No. 6 Arizona State at home on Saturday. It is ASU’s only match of the week, making the two matches in two states schedule even more challenging for Arizona and essentially negating much or all of the home court advantage. ASU has not played since Oct. 18.
