Match Stats
- Arizona def. #17 Utah 3-1 (22-25, 18-25, 16-25, 15-25)
- Arizona moves to 18-13 (10-9 Pac-12); Utah falls to 20-10 (11-8 Pac-12)
- McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona
- Attendance: 1,255
The 17th-ranked Utah Utes and the recently-ranked Arizona Wildcats have been the two most upset-minded, and surprising, teams in the Pac-12 this season, and on Wednesday evening they met in Tucson, Arizona on Arizona’s senior day to settle a score between two similar and evenly-matched teams.
Buoyed by the efforts of their outgoing senior class, Arizona came away with a 3-1 win over Utah, who has been one of the best road teams in the country this season. The game wrapped the Utes’ road record at 10-3, which is their best output in a decade and the most road victories since they joined the Pac-12 in 2011.
For the Wildcats, it was a fitting end to the career of their 5 outgoing seniors. Setter Penina Snuka became the second player in Arizona history to record 5000 career assists, adding 52 more to her total. She’s the Pac-12 Conference leader in assists this season.
Her individual performance passed a historic milestone, but as a group the outgoing senior class now has 81 in their 4 years – making them the winningest class since 2003.
Kalei Mau also ended her home career on a high note with 21 kills on .362 hitting. Senior Laura Larson had 21 digs, Katarina Pilepic had 9 kills on .333 hitting, and McKenna Painton had 10 digs – with every senior making a significant contribution to the day’s results.
“I can’t even find the words to say how much these seniors have meant to this program,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “This is a very special group. It’s very fitting that their careers will end by leading us to our fourth NCAA Tournament in their four years.”
While the official NCAA tournament field won’t be announced until late Sunday, this punctuating win against a top-25 program is enough to seal the Wildcats’ inclusion this year.
After dropping the first set, where Utah controlled the run of play, Arizona went on a tear and hit .333, .289, and .458 in the last 3 sets, while holding the Utes to .167 hitting-or-less in each of the last 3 frames.
“I was proud of the way we played today,” said Rubio. “We came out a little flat in the first set, but we executed well in the last three sets. That was a big win for us against a good team. We had some energy that I felt we had been lacking the last couple of matches.”
Utah junior Carly Trueman set the tone early for the Utes, helping her team to a 12-5 lead with 4 early kills. Her team was up as much as 20-14 before an Arizona run pushed them to the brink.
Adora Anae led Utah with a double-double on 16 kills and 16 digs, while Trueman finished with 15 kills of h er own.
Press Releases
Courtesy Arizona Athletics:
TUCSON, Ariz. — Penina Snuka became the second player in school history to accumulate 5,000 career assists on Wednesday, doing so on her senior day at McKale Center as Arizona took down No. 17 Utah in four sets (22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-15).
Snuka, Kalei Mau, Laura Larson, Katarina Pilepic and McKenna Painton bid adieu to McKale Center and the Arizona fans on a special afternoon. With the win, the 81st over the last four years, the seniors became the winningest class since 2003.
In addition to Snuka reaching the career milestone, it was a special night for all the seniors as Mau posted 21 kills, her third most in a four-set match this year, on .362 hitting with a career-high-tying three aces, Larson totaled 21 digs, her second most in a four-set match, Pilepic notched nine kills on .333 hitting and Painton recorded 10 digs, her seventh double-digit-dig effort this season.
“I can’t even find the words to say how much these seniors have meant to this program,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “This is a very special group. It’s very fitting that their careers will end by leading us to our fourth NCAA Tournament in their four years.”
The Wildcats rebounded after a slow start to earn their seventh victory over a ranked team this year. After allowing Utah to hit .381 in its 25-22 first-set win, the Wildcats held the Utes to a .106 clip afterward. Meanwhile, Arizona hit a blistering .347 in the final three sets, three dominant wins (25-18, 25-16, 25-15).
“I was proud of the way we played today,” said Rubio. “We came out a little flat in the first set, but we executed well in the last three sets. That was a big win for us against a good team. We had some energy that I felt we had been lacking the last couple of matches.”
Snuka added to her Pac-12 lead in total assists with 52 in the match. The senior spread the ball around on Wednesday as four Wildcats posted nine-or-more kills in the match. Mau led the way with 21, Kendra Dahlke added 13, Devyn Cross posted a career-high 10 and Pilepic had nine kills.
In addition to its high-powered offense, UA also played great defense, beginning in the backrow. Arizona out-dug Utah 67-58 in the match, led by Larson’s 21. Mau added 12 for her 13th double-double of the year and Painton dug 10 balls. Arizona also out-blocked Utah 6-3. Cross was in on five of the blocks for the Cats.
The Utes hit .383 in the first set and fought off an Arizona run at the end to win 25-22 and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Arizona, though, carried the momentum from its strong finish to the first set and raced out to the early lead in the second set. The Cats led wire to wire in the second, taking the second set 25-18. Kendra Dahlke led the Cats with six kills on 13 swings.
It was more of the same in the third, as Arizona cruised from the get-go, winning 25-16.
The Wildcats scored the first five points in the fourth set and dominated from there, winning 25-15 to close out the match.
Courtesy Utah Athletics:
TUCSON, Ariz. – The No. 17-ranked Utah Utes (20-10, 11-8) dropped its last Pac-12 Conference road match of the season, falling 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 16-25, 15-25) to the Arizona Wildcats (18-13, 10-9) Wednesday evening at the McKale Center.
The Utes finish the regular season with a 10-3 record in road games – the program’s best record in matches played away from home since going 10-4 back in 2008. The 10 road victories are the program’s most since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011.
Junior Carly Trueman registered four of her five first set-kills early in the frame, which helped give Utah a 12-5 lead. Utah led late in the set 20-14, but Arizona scored eight of the next 12 points to get back within two points of the Utes, down 24-22, and that forced the Utes to call its first timeout of the set. Junior Adora Anae wrapped up the frame though with her fourth kill of the set to give the Utes a 25-22 win.
It was Utah’s first time to take a set from the Wilcats on the road since taking the second set back in 2012. Since then, Arizona had won 11 straight sets over the Utes at McKale Center.
Down 6-4 early in the second set, Utah got a pair of kills from Trueman to give the Utes an 8-7 lead, but the Wildcats retook the lead with a couple of 4-0 runs and were up 15-9 midway through the set. Utah would get back within three points, down 16-13, but another 4-0 run forced Utah to call timeout, down 20-13. Utah won four of the next five points, but Arizona closed out the set with a 4-1 run to tie the match 1-s after taking the second set 25-18.
Arizona opened the third set with an 8-3 run and never looked back on the way to downing the Utes 25-16 and taking a 2-1 lead in the match. Utah was limited to just .167 hitting while Arizona countered with a hitting percentage of .289 in the frame. Both Anae and Trueman led the way with four kills each, but it was not enough as an 11-4 run late in the set helped put the Wildcats over the top.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before running away with the fourth set, 25-15. Utah managed to get back within three points of the home squad, down 14-11, but Arizona closed out the frame netting 11 of the final 15 points to take both the set and match.
Anae paced Utah with a double-double, posting 16 kills and 16 digs in the match. Trueman added 15 kills, while freshman Brianna Doehrmann posted a team-high 17 digs.
Despite out-hitting the Wildcats .381 to .195 in the first set, the Utes would finish hitting just .203, while the Wildcats regrouped to hit .302 overall.
The Utes will be back in action on Friday with a post-Thanksgiving contest against Colorado. First serve between the Utes and Buffs is set for 1 p.m. MT inside the Huntsman Center.
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