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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

UA volleyball splits Washington road trip

Arizona volleyball finished with a victory and a loss in Washington over the weekend, defeating Washington State in five sets on Saturday after losing to No. 5 Washington on Friday in straight sets.

Against Washington, Arizona struggled defensively, especially with the loss of one of its top players. The Wildcats faced a scary moment Friday night when sophomore setter Penina Snuka injured her knee in the first set. Junior transfer Whitney Hunt stepped up in Snuka’s absence but just didn’t add enough, struggling to replace Snuka, who averages four digs per set.

Hunt, who played for Weber State before transferring to Arizona, had 31 assists for the Wildcats. Snuka, who had previously been described as Arizona’s point guard by UA head coach Dave Rubio, clearly was missed for the rest of the match.

Outside hitter Madi Kingdon led the Wildcats with 17 kills and added 12 digs for her fifth-consecutive double-double.

In the end, Arizona struggled to rally any momentum against a tough Washington opponent that had previously come off two straight defeats. The Huskies ended up defeating the Wildcats (20-25, 17-25, 19-25) and out-blocking Arizona 7-2.

Although they were able to hold on during the first set, Arizona was simply outplayed by a Washington team that wanted to avenge its previous losses.

Against Washington State, Arizona held on for five sets, outlasting the Cougars (25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 29-31, 15-8). The Wildcats gathered 109 digs, which is the fourth time this season that the UA has had 100-plus digs, and the seventh most in school history.

Kindon’s 34 digs were the fourth most in UA history, and she finished the weekend with her 107th double-digit kill match in her time at Arizona, which set a new record.

Adding to the offensive performance were sophomore outside hitter Ashley Harris and senior outside hitter Taylor Arizobal. Harris tied her career high with 19 kills, while Arizobal added a season-high 18 kills.

Snuka returned for the Wildcats against the Cougars, entering in the second set on Saturday, dishing out 34 assists and adding 17 digs.

Washington State was not predicted to give Arizona much competition, especially because it sits in last place in the Pac-12 Conference and has just one victory over a Pac-12 opponent. The Cougars now have lost eight straight games.

The UA finished the weekend at (22-8, 12-7 Pac-12) and has just two more games before it concludes its regular season.
Arizona will host USC for senior day on Wednesday  and will then travel to Arizona State on Friday.

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Follow Matt Wall on Twitter.

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