TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona volleyball fell in straight sets on Saturday to fifth-ranked Stanford (25-16, 25-17, 25-16) in front of a season-high 1,803 fans at McKale Center.

"We came out ready to play," said head coach Dave Rubio. "I have no complaints about tonight. I think people should be really proud of our nine players that are playing right now. I think Paige (Whipple) played really well tonight. Katie (Smoot), Julia (Patterson), our middles, everyone came out ready to play. Stanford is just really good."

Paige Whipple led the Wildcats offensively with 16 kills, and the Cats hit a modest .156 vs. the Cardinal. However, Arizona had trouble slowing down the high-powered offense of the defending national champions. Making things difficult on the Wildcats was the return of two-time national player of the year Kathryn Plummer, who returned to the Stanford lineup for the first time since September. Plummer finished with 15 kills on just 22 swings; the Cardinal hit .368 as a team.

The Wildcats had 45 digs on the night, led by libero Emi Pua'a's 15 in the three-set match. Pua'a has at least 12 digs in 10 of the 12 matches since she has taken over at libero.

In each of the first two sets, the Wildcats hung around with the Cardinal early, leading in the first set 9-6 and hanging point-for-point with Stanford for the first 23 points of the second set, but Stanford proved to have too much firepower for the Wildcats.

Arizona fell to 12-14, 2-12 Pac-12 on the season while fifth-ranked Stanford improved to 18-4, 12-2 Pac-12. Up next for the Wildcats, Arizona will hit the road for the final time this season. Arizona will take on Oregon in Eugene next Friday (11/15) and Oregon State in Corvallis next Sunday (11/17).

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