Arizona volleyball upset by Samford in Cactus Classic finale

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After consecutive straight set victories to open the 2019 season, No. 24 Arizona volleyball was upset by the Samford Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at McKale, 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12) to drop the last match of the annual Cactus Classic and fall to 2-1 on the new campaign.

To put the upset in perspective, it was Samford’s first-ever win against a top-25 opponent.

It was a vastly different performance than the Cats’ two dominant wins Friday against Appalachian State and Loyola Marymount, and they never really got going after a slow start.

The UA hit at a percentage that was 100 points less than in either of the wins against Appalachian State and Loyola (.179 compared to .298 and .367) and made more errors against the Bulldogs (35) than they did in the first two matches combined (30).

The continued absence of seniors Devyn Cross (disciplinary issue) and Makenna Martin (groin injury) didn’t help matters either.

Junior outside hitter Elizabeth Shelton, who notched 12 kills and three blocks, senior setter Julia Patterson, who was three kills away from a triple double with seven kills, 38 assists and 12 digs and freshman libero Kamaile Hiapo were probably the biggest bright spots, but it was clear throughout the match that the Wildcats as a team just weren’t as sharp as they had been the day before.

Even with all of that being said, Arizona still could have won the match after dropping the first set and battling from 2-1 down to force a decisive fifth game.

The score was as close as 13-12 in the final frame before Samford was able to pull away.

“I knew that today would be the hardest match to play for us in the tournament,” said Arizona coach Dave Rubio

“Because last night was pretty easy for us. Mentally and emotionally we were engaged in what was going to happen, because we knew that we had to play well against Loyola, but I knew today was going to be against a really good team that had enough talent that if we didn’t show up and play, we wouldn’t come out on top.

“I knew from the beginning when we were warming up that we weren’t going to be very good today. Sanford really played well but emotionally we were not engaged. We didn’t feel threatened from the very beginning and as a result, we’re coming out with a loss.”

The longtime head coach then went on to mention the negative repercussions that would come with the defeat.

“That’s a bad match for us to lose,” he said. “You know, from the RPI standpoint, from the top 25 standpoint we’ll fall out of the poll and when the committee looks at this they’re going, ‘well what’s Arizona losing to Samford.’ These are all bad things for us. But that kind of thing happens, that’s just kind of part of sports, and you know, we’ll regroup and continue to get better and put it behind us.”

The Wildcats will be back in action next weekend at the SDSU/USD Invitational, where they will face Nebraska on Friday and West Virginia and San Diego State on Saturday.

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