It may not have been as pretty as its 3-0 win against the Ducks, but the Wildcat volleyball team earned a sweep of the Oregon schools and moved two wins away from finishing the season with a record above the .500 mark.
Arizona (14-13, 8-8 Pacific 10 Conference) dispatched Oregon State (15-13, 5-11), 3-1, rallying to win the last three games, 30-24, 30-19, 30-25, after losing the first game, 29-31. The win moved the Wildcats over .500 for the first time since Sept. 19.
"I thought it was great to get two wins on the road," said UA head coach Dave Rubio. "At this point of the year, it is all about ÎW's for us."
After having a season-low seven kills against Oregon the night before, sophomore outside hitter Kim Glass rebounded with 28 kills on a .323 hitting percentage. Glass set a school season record for 20-plus-kill matches with 15.
Sophomore Bre Ladd had 14 kills on a sizzling match-high .650 hitting percentage, with only one error and a match-high seven blocks. In all, five Arizona players had double-digit kills in Corvallis.
Rubio was impressed with the way the ball was spread around, saying that Ladd got more opportunities than usual.
"Bre's been doing a lot more lately," Rubio said. "Against Oregon State, we had the best distribution of the year."
Freshman setter Stephanie Butkus added 12 kills on a .417 hitting percentage, along with 64 assists for the Wildcats. Butkus was nearly error-free, committing just two against Oregon State.
Sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy had 11 kills with 13 digs, and junior middle blocker Jolene Killough rounded out the double-digit killers with 13 on .318 hitting.
After notching only six digs against the Ducks, junior libero Kelli Mulvany continued her hot play of late, matching her career high with 24 digs at OSU. Going into the weekend's matches, Mulvany had 10 or more digs in her last seven matches, increasing her average from 2.28 digs per game to 2.91.
Rubio attributed a good deal of the Wildcats' recent success to Mulvany's surge ÷ specifically, her ability to keep rallies alive with her digs.
"She's been digging a ton of balls," Rubio said.
This weekend, in their final home matches against No. 11 Washington (18-7, 9-7) and Washington State (8-19, 4-12), the Wildcats have a chance to clinch a winning record.
In Friday's intrastate battle, the Huskies swept the Cougars in Seattle, 32-30, 30-17, 30-26.