LOS ANGELES - Despite becoming just the seventh team to take a set off No. 1 USC (20-0, 8-0 Pac-12), Arizona fell to the Trojans to suffer its second consecutive loss in Los Angeles by the score of 27-29, 22-25, 28-26, 14-25.
“I thought we played well, but I'm tired of losing to the top 10 teams in the country,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “Game one we had a nice swing and ended up losing. Would have been nice to be up 2-1.”
The Wildcats (13-7, 3-5 Pac-12) failed to convert on three set points in the opening set and lost the first two sets by a combined five points before taking the third set to take the top-ranked Trojans to four, but ran out of gas in the fourth, falling 25-14.
“I think USC is legitimately the best team in the country and we're close, but I'm tired of being close,” said Rubio. “It's still a process for us, we have to continue to get better.”
Kalei Mau finished one kill shy of her career-high with 26, paced by 10 in the first. She hit .312 in the contest.
Penina Snuka picked up her league-leading 12th double-double with 35 assists and 16 digs.
UA recorded 79 digs in the contest, 20 of which were by libero Laura Larson, her second 20-plus dig outing in Arizona's last three matches.
Seven different Wildcats recorded kills. In addition to Mau's 26-kill outing, Tyler Spriggs put up double digits with 11.
Arizona's fourth-set victory over USC was just the ninth set taken off the unbeaten Trojans all year, and was the eighth set that Arizona has taken off of a top-10 opponent this season. When Arizona dropped the first set 29-27, it marked the seventh time Arizona had taken a top-10 team to deuce and lost, but UA's third-set 28-26 victory finally ended that streak.
“We have to play better when it's the bigger moments of the match,” said Rubio. “We're just not able to execute well enough at the end of those games.”
The Wildcats took advantage of early USC errors to take a 9-8 lead in the first, but USC went on to score the next five points to seemingly take command of the set. After USC led 17-12, Arizona went on an 8-1 run to take a 20-18 lead. The Trojans fought back to earn a pair of set points at 24-22. Arizona went on a 3-0 run and would go on to earn set points at 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26, but could not close as USC won the opener 29-27.
Arizona took the first point of the second, but USC ripped off a 6-0 run thanks to the serving of Samantha Bricio. The Cats responded with a 9-4 run to tie things up at 10. Arizona battled, but did not have enough in the second as the Trojans edged Arizona 25-22.
The Cats came out of the intermission hot, taking an early lead in the third set, but the Trojans fought back to take a 12-11 lead. There was little to separate the teams until Arizona took a 24-21 lead with three opportunities to win the set. USC scored three straight to send it to deuce. Arizona, which had lost all seven deuce sets to top-10 teams, finally broke through with a 28-26 third-set victory.
The Trojans were too much for Arizona to handle in the fourth as USC cruised to a 25-14 victory.
Up Next: Arizona returns home to host Colorado (Oct. 23) and Utah (Oct. 25) next week.
Follow Arizona Volleyball: For further coverage of Arizona volleyball, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow the team's Twitter and Instagram accounts (@ArizonaVBall).
