TUCSON - Senior libero Laura Larson collected her 1,000th career dig, but Arizona volleyball fell in straight sets on Friday night to 18th-ranked Washington State (27-25, 25-23, 25-16).
 
"Well certainly a disappointing finish for us after a couple of good weeks," said head coach Dave Rubio. "I thought Washington State played really well tonight. Those guys really rallied together and they played what I thought was a flawless match."

Arizona out-dug Washington State 50-44 in the match with Larson (13 digs) leading the way. It was Larson's 33rd double-digit dig match in her last 36th. The senior from Lakeville, Minnesota became the 16th player in Arizona history to reach the 1,000 dig mark.
 
The Cougars notched 11.5 blocks, including six in the third set, as the Cats struggled to a .153 hitting percentage in the match. 
 
Kalei Mau had 14 kills to lead the Wildcats and Penina Snuka posted her 13th double-double of the season (36 assists, 11 digs).
 
The Cats fell in a pair of closely-contested sets prior to the intermission, but Washington State ran away with the third to sweep the match.
 
"I think all of us go into the locker thinking we have to get it together, we're going to go out there stronger," said Mau on going into the intermission down 0-2 despite losing each set by two points. "We definitely changed our mentalities getting out of the locker and I think Washington State had their own agenda, saying they should close out fast and it was just too much for us to handle, just when we were starting to start the game. It's the sport. It was a good job for them."
 
The Wildcats could have changed the complexion of the match, but failed to convert on two set points in the first set.
 
"I thought the match really rested for us in game 1," said Rubio. "In game 1 we had opportunities, we just couldn't play sharp enough. We didn't act on moments that counted the most. We just couldn't get our footing after that. They continued to play aggressive and they were very low error and sharp, and we were not. Unfortunately I do not think we played well together tonight, we didn't play well as a team tonight."
 
The Wildcats could not convert a pair of set points and despite registering 20 kills, Arizona was unable to close out the first set. The Cougars came back to win the first set 27-25.
 
The Cougars used a late 4-0 run to turn an 18-all tie to a 22-18 lead on their way to a 25-23 victory to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Washington State cruised to a 25-13 victory in the third set to close out the match.
 
UP NEXT: Arizona will host seventh-ranked Washington at 11 a.m. MST on Sunday, televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
 
FOLLOW THE CATS: For continued coverage of Arizona volleyball, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@ArizonaVBall).