It felt like déjà vu. A day after dropping three straight sets to San Diego in a very uninspiring fashion, Arizona volleyball was in a two-set hole to San Diego State. Just like the day before, the Wildcats had yet to reach 20 points in a set. Then, they found something that worked.
Arizona came back to take a 3-2 (16-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-8) victory in the Aztecs’ home opener.
“I love the fact that we fought together and we played together the entire time,” said Arizona head coach Rita Stubbs.
“To me, that’s always the most important part. And I kept telling us, like, win or lose, it doesn’t matter. It’s one point at a time. Stay together. Play to win. Be aggressive. Pick your line, and have purposeful communication, because sometimes we talk and no one’s really listening.”
It took a lot of experimenting and adjustments. Stubbs made multiple lineup changes. She made tactical changes. Eventually, it all came together.
Arizona was out-blocked by San Diego on Thursday night. The blocking was again a problem on Friday in the early going.
San Diego State was able to get just enough of the Wildcats’ fingertips to score points on balls that were headed out. Arizona wasn’t stuff blocking and it wasn’t even slowing the ball down for the defense; it was simply getting enough contact to rack up points for the opposition.
“We made a few adjustments with the block to help that out, and they were coachable and they listened,” Stubbs said. “So, super excited!”
Those changes made a huge difference. The Wildcats ended with 13 total blocks after getting just one in the first two sets combined. Senior middle blocker Journey Tucker led the way for both teams with eight total blocks, including two solo.
Tucker was also a big part of the Arizona offense. She tied right side Kennedy Osunsanmi and reserve outside hitter Hayden Reeder with eight kills, trailing only right side Renee Jones for the team high. Tucker led the match with a .571 hitting percentage.
“It was nice to see Journey stepped up,” Stubbs said. “She was really aggressive, as well.”
Jones was once again a big part of the story. The sophomore went into the season chasing Osunsanmi and Britt Carlson for playing time in Arizona’s 6-2 system. When Carlson went down with an injury before the season opener, Jones stepped in.
She contributes 1.89 kills per set this season while splitting time with Osunsanmi on the right side. That comes in third on the team behind Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Osunsanmi. Her .311 hitting percentage is second behind Tucker among players with at least 50 attacks. Her 0.76 blocks per set are third on the team among players who have played at least 25 sets and first among Arizona’s pin hitters. Her five solo blocks tie Tucker for the team high.
On Friday, Jones had 11 kills on .375 hitting. Her five total blocks were second on the team. She contributed 13.5 points and four digs. She was the only Wildcat to hit double digits in kills.
Reeder has begun getting more playing time of late largely because she’s Arizona’s second-best passer on the left side. With Ndam-Simpson struggling on both attacking and serve receive, Reeder came in during the second set. She started the final three sets.
The lanky freshman had eight kills. She received a match high 34 serves with only two receiving errors. Her 34 receptions were twice as many as any other Wildcat. She also had four total blocks, including one solo. Her total blocks tied fellow freshman Marina Vosloo for third on the team.
“Hayden, what she went in and did—and the energy she provided—was instrumental,” Stubbs said.
With Arizona searching for something that worked, Stubbs substituted regularly. Only four players started every set, including freshman libero Gigi Whann. Only six players appeared in every set. Those included Harmony Sample, who is the second setter in the 6-2 system, and Jones, who is the second opposite in that system. Payton Woods started the second set as the other opposite before Osunsanmi returned in the third.
Whann was the third freshman to make an important contribution for Arizona.
“I think it’s important because they need to know that working hard has its benefits,” Stubbs said. “Typically, there could be a set line up, and it’s like you work hard the entire time and never get a reward after it. It becomes a little discouraging at some point, and that’s never the intent but let’s be honest, that’s exactly what happens. So the fact that they kept grinding and they say they don’t care and they just go get it done the best way they can is exactly what you would want.”
San Diego State played a very clean match for the first two sets. They had 19 kills in each of those frames. They hit an efficient .395 in the first and .371 in the second.
The final three sets looked like a completely different team. The Aztecs had more hitting errors than kills in both the fourth and fifth. In the third, they had 14 kills but gave almost all of those points away with 12 hitting errors. After hitting .383 combined in the sets they won, they cratered to -.038 over the final three sets.
A big part of the waning efficiency on SDSU’s side of the net was improved serving by Arizona. The Wildcats had all five of their aces in the third and fourth sets.
They also began to go on longer service runs. Vosloo, Carlie Cisneros, and both of Arizona’s setters had at least one significant service run in the last three sets.
Cisneros served 15 times in over the final three sets, leading the way for the Wildcats. Vosloo served a total of 13 points during Arizona’s three winning sets after serving just three times in the second set.
The win will make the Wildcats’ bus trip back from San Diego more pleasant than it might have been. They will finish their nonconference schedule on Tuesday when they take another bus ride to El Paso, Tex. to face UTEP. A win against the Miners would put them at 5-6 in nonconference play heading into next week’s Big 12 opener.
