Oct. 16, 2010

Box Score in PDF Format

TUCSON, Ariz. - One night after going the distance and falling to No. 10 UCLA, the 25th ranked Wildcats could not close the door on yet another Top 10 team, losing to No. 5 USC in five sets at McKale Center. Set scores: 19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 18-16.

With the loss, Arizona drops to 14-6 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-10 while the Women of Troy improve to 15-3 and 4-3.

"It was an agonizing loss, as the ones we have experienced in this fashion are," said head coach Dave Rubio. "The statement, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger is certainly appropriate here. It was an extremely close game, and it was decided by one or two contacts. I'm very proud of how we competed, especially to come back in the fifth set. I feel bad for the kids."

After trailing 2-1, UA forced a fifth set by winning the fourth, 25-21.  In the fifth, Arizona was down early, but came back yet again to knot the score at 14.   The Wildcats then took the lead at 16-15 and were serving for the match but USC wasn't about to give up.  The Trojans went on to notch kills from Lauren Williams and Alex Jupiter and force an attack error to win 18-16 and the match overall.

Tiffany Owens led Arizona with 20 kills and 19 digs. Courtney Karst and Cursty Jackson also led the offensive attack with 19 and 17 kills, respectively. Setter Paige Weber had 57 assists while libero Candace Nicholson had 16 digs.

Coach Rubio Press Conference

Next weekend, UA is back on the road with matches at No. 7 Washington and Washington State.