If energy was a problem in the early going of Arizona volleyball’s match on Saturday, the Wildcats had fixed that problem by Sunday’s match against Fresno State. They were active and aggressive from the start in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-20) victory over the Bulldogs.
“It was something that I wanted, especially after yesterday’s game,” Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs said. “I didn’t feel like we started off with a lot of energy (yesterday). So it was good.”
The win pushed Arizona’s winning streak to 14
straight matches stretching back to last year. The last time the Wildcats lost was a home match to Kansas State. After a players’ meeting, they took out No. 8 Kansas in the next match and didn’t lose again.
The 14-match winning streak matches the longest in program history. Arizona last won 14 straight matches in 2000.
“I think that’s pretty cool,” said sophomore setter Avery Scoggins. “We definitely want to get a lot more wins in the future, so we’re gonna work hard to accomplish more than that.”
Oustide hitters Jordan Wilson and Carlie Cisneros once again led the way.
Wilson was not only effective, she was also highly efficient. Despite being subbed out at 11-9 in the third set, the senior ended with 12 kills on 20 swings. She had just one hitting error, ending the day with a .550 hitting percentage.
Just as she did in the other two matches this weekend, Wilson had an impact in most aspects of the game. While she struggled a bit on serve, committing three service errors without an ace, she had a block and five digs. She ended with 12.5 points.
Wilson’s efficiency has been especially noticeable in the first weekend. She has improved each season at Arizona, hitting .215 as a sophomore and .249 last year, but has started especially strong this year.
Over the first three matches, Wilson is hitting .353 and has 4.0 kills per set. Last year, she hit .260 over the first weekend and was subbed out in the second match after just one set with six errors on seven swings without a kill.
“I think that, one, she wants to play professional so she knows there are some things that she needs to do to put herself in a position to be seen favorably by those out there that’ll be making those decisions,” Stubbs said. “But more importantly, she just wants to be the leader on the team and the one that’s willing to carry the load, and she knows in order to do that, she has to be consistent with her level of play so people can look to her and not worry if she struggles.”
Cisneros led the team with 13 kills. She did it on .270 hitting. She was second in the match with three total blocks, trailing only Arizona middle blocker Adrianna Bridges. Cisneros threw in a service ace to lead the team with 15.5 points. She also had two assists.
Bridges was once again Arizona’s other primary offensive weapon. The sophomore had four kills, two service aces, and four total blocks for eight points.
Stubbs once again subbed liberally. All three of the opposites on the roster saw at least some court time, as did all three of the healthy middle blockers. Four of the five libero/defensive specialists played.
The two bring different things to the table, with Heath being quicker and Carlson being a bigger block at the net and more effective when the team is out of system.
“That’s where Ana kind of gets hurt every time,” Stubbs said. “It’s because I think she’s too aggressive in most situations. But you gotta understand the personnel of it, because Jordan is extremely aggressive out of system, but she brings something different to the table, and her level of confidence and being comfortable there is a lot different.”
Stubbs believes they need to be able to use both of them without missing a beat and is not set on one of them being the primary player at the position yet.
Freshman outside hitter Paige Thies came into the match for Wilson in the third set. She had three kills on seven swings without an error. She also had a dig.
Bridges played the whole match at middle blocker. Sydnie Vanek and Maya Flemister split time on the court, with Flemister coming in during the final set.
The variety of teammates she is setting for is something Scoggins is still working through. While she got to play with all of them except Thies during the spring, it is still a learning experience when the games count.
“I think it’s something that takes time getting used to, and I feel…like I need to work on my connections with everybody and everything can always get better,” Scoggins said.
She did feel that her connections with the middles was getting better. Bridges did not play much last year, Vanek is new to the position at the college level, and Flemister is a freshman, so that is a focus for Scoggins and the middle blocker group.
“For me today, I thought, obviously, there’s a lot of sets that I could have cleaned up,” Scoggins said. “I haven’t been the most consistent this past weekend, but that’s a good thing, because now I can clean it up going forward, in the future, and knowing what specific sets that I need to work on. I thought the middle connection today was pretty solid. I thought overall, everybody did really good. We didn’t make a lot of unforced errors, which is good. And overall, I thought the team did really well. There’s still stuff to work on, but that’s a good thing. We want stuff to work on right now.”
Arizona dominated in all statistical categories. The Wildcats’ blocking and serving games gave the Bulldogs a lot of problems. While UA only ended with five total blocks on the stat sheet, their block touches set a tone, especially in the early going.
In the service game, Arizona kept Fresno State’s serve receive off balance. The Wildcats had eight aces to 10 service errors, sticking pretty close to the desirable one-to-one mark.
The Wildcats led for almost the entire match. Fresno State’s only leads came early in the third set. The last one was at 5-4.
Addison Haluska led Fresno State with a match-high 15 kills. The downside is it took her 40 swings and nine errors to get there. Haluska also had two total blocks to lead the match with 17 points.
The Wildcats go on the road next week to play in the Boise State Tournament against the host Broncos, former Pac-12 foe Oregon State, and UC San Diego. Their only other home match in nonconference play comes against UTEP on Sept. 16. They play seven of their 11 nonconference matches on the road or at neutral sites before starting Big 12 play with two road matches.
