DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona freshman Kristina Baum attempts a return during the Wildcats' sweep of Oregon last night in McKale Center. The win was the Wildcats' second Pac-10 victory of the season.

Volleyball climbs closer to .500 with home victory

The Arizona volleyball team earned its second Pacific 10 Conference win of the season last night ÷ a 3-0 win over visiting Oregon ÷ thanks to the Wildcats' ability to produce a more balanced attack than usual.

Arizona (8-10, 2-6 Pac-10) won for the second time in three matches by beating the Ducks (3-14, 0-8) in straight sets ÷ 30-21, 30-28, 30-19.

Sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy had 13 kills against the Ducks, the first time all season a player other than sophomore Kim Glass has led the team. Junior middle blocker Jolene Killough tallied double-digit kills as well, picking up 12 on the night.

"We had a lot of confidence going into the match and we need that confidence to win," Killough said.

Head coach Dave Rubio said he was pleased with how the Wildcats played in the middle. Playing alongside Killough, sophomore middle blocker Bre Ladd had a match-high .643 hitting percentage with zero errors.

"We've been working on the middle," Rubio said. "It was nice to see that the practice was paying off."

Despite being hampered by stress fractures in her shins and being limited during practice this week, Abernathy had a .409 hitting percentage on 22 swings 13 kills.

"I think we're playing better as a team. We're a lot more confident when we go out and we start out a lot stronger, whereas before, we lost a little bit of confidence," Abernathy said.

Rubio said he is impressed with Abernathy's improvement as the season moves along.

"I thought Jen was outstanding," Rubio said. "I've really been pleased with Jennifer's progress as an attacker. As she develops, it really makes a huge difference for us because now we have two weapons on the left."

Glass had a bit of an off night by her standards, hitting .194 for the match.She did managed to tally 11 kills, her 25th match in a row in double digits.

"Kim kind of uncharacteristically had a lot of attacking errors," Rubio said. "Although, when the game was on the line and it counted, she came through as she commonly does.

Kelly Griffin-Halfaker, Arizona's new starting setter, had a match-high 38 assists and the Wildcats out hit UO .347 to .245. Rubio said the difference between her and true freshman Stephanie Butkus is that the fifth year senior sets up the left side better.

If Killough continues to improve, the Wildcats will have to rely less on Glass.

"She's unstoppable. 6-foot-5. How many girls 6-foot-5 do you see playing volleyball?" Rubio said. "Once the setters really get a rhythm with her, she's going to be another person that offensively is going to carry some load."

Arizona had a season high 13 aces while Glass had a match high five service aces. The Ducks are winless in home and road matches.

Briefhed: Cats to face Beavers on TV

Arizona hosts Oregon State (12-7, 2-5) tonight at 7 pm, a match which will be shown live on Fox Sports Net Arizona and tape delayed on other FSN affiliates. Rubio said that the UA will need to improve on the 25 errors they had on Thursday against the Beavers.

"(Tonight's) a different match though," Rubio said. "They're a very good team we're going to need to play I think a little steadier."

The Wildcats play their fifth top-10 team in seven matches, when they travel to face No. 2 Hawaii (17-1, 5-0) Sunday. The television broadcast of the match with the Rainbow Wahine can be seen on k5thehometeam.com and the radio broadcast can be heard on kkea1420am.com.