Colorado Takes Down Arizona in Four Sets
10/24/2015 | Volleyball
TUCSON - For the first time all season, Arizona fell to an unranked opponent as UA fell to Colorado in four sets at McKale Center on Friday night (20-25, 26-24, 15-25, 14-25).
"It was a pretty poor performance by us," said head coach Dave Rubio. "Obviously we were not ready to play and that is my fault, I will take the blame.”
The Wildcats (13-8, 3-6 Pac-12) had a season-high 42 attack errors, negating the fact that the Wildcats had more kills than Colorado (52-49) in a match they lost by a cumulative 24 points. Arizona hit .061, its lowest in a match in at least five seasons.
"It was clear we were not in-sync," said Rubio. "Our energy level was bad, and our execution was poor. I do not have the answer to why we played so poorly, as nothing during the week would indicate we would play this poorly.”
Penina Snuka recorded 44 assists and eight digs on the night, distributing to numerous hitters as five Wildcats had more than eight kills, led by Nikki Attea's 10. Though Snuka herself led the way in the hitting percentage column, recording three kills on .333 hitting. Jade Turner also hit .333 with two kills in just one set played.
Arizona had as many attack errors (12) as it did kills in the opening set. Solid defense helped the cats hang around, but the Buffaloes (13-8, 3-6 Pac-12) scored the set's final four points to win the opener 25-20.
Nikki Attea and Tyler Spriggs led the way for the Cats in the second. Each took just 11 swings and posted five and four kills, respectively, helping Arizona overcome a late Colorado rally to win the second 26-24 and even the match heading into the break.
Out of the break, Colorado hit .393 and dominated wire-to-wire, taking a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-15 victory.
CU carried that momentum into the fourth, scoring the game's first three points and cruising to a 25-14 victory to cement the win.
Up Next: Arizona will look to end a three-game skid on Sunday when UA welcomes Utah at 11 a.m. MST on the Pac-12 Networks.
Follow Arizona Volleyball: For further coverage of Arizona volleyball, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow the team's Twitter and Instagram accounts (@ArizonaVBall).
