Volleyball gets brooms out early
The No. 17 Arizona women's volleyball team brought out the brooms this weekend, sweeping Winthrop, No. 20 Georgia Tech and Northwestern to capture the University Plaza Wildcat Classic championship.
Senior outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy was named tournament MVP, while fellow seniors Kim Glass and Bre Ladd also made the all-tournament team.
Abernathy averaged 4.67 kills on .400 hitting with 1.78 digs and .44 service aces.
"We're a very good team," said Arizona head coach Dave Rubio. "I feel confident with the leadership we have out there.
"I feel confident that we're going to be very competitive."
Having upset Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon, Northwestern lived up to its reputation of being the underdog. Arizona dispatched Northwestern in three games Saturday night, 30-25, 30-26, 20-25.
"I thought the games were very close all the way up until the mid or early 20s," Rubio said. "Northwestern really played well. They were playing to win on every single game."
He said that Northwestern highlighted some of the areas in which Arizona needs to improve.
"We need to find some offense out of our opposite (side)," he said.
Arizona defeated Georgia Tech 30-21, 30-24, 30-24 Friday night, as the Wildcats hit .300 on the match and held the Yellow Jackets to a .077 hitting percentage.
"Personally, I didn't really feel like I was having an incredible game," Abernathy said after the game, in which she tallied 15 kills, nine digs, four blocks and two service aces. "I was trying really hard that game to be consistent and minimize my errors, and I thought I did that," she said.
The Wildcats began the tournament with a three-game victory over Winthrop, 30-20, 30-22, 30-21.
Glass, a two-time All-America selection, identified the team's passing as an area that needs improvement after the match against the Eagles.
"It's kind of inconsistent right now," she said. "I think we have to get comfortable with each other, knowing who's going to take what ball, a little bit more communication and just more reps in the gym."
Arizona hits the road Thursday to take on No. 15 UC-Santa Barbara in the Bronco Invitational.
Obispo battles soccer to scoreless tie
After 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, neither the Arizona women's soccer team nor its Cal Poly San Luis Obispo counterpart could put one in the back of the net Sunday. The teams ended the match in a 0-0 tie.
Although the Wildcats (1-1-1) failed to score, Arizona head coach Dan Tobias said he felt they played well. Had it not been for some outstanding saves by Mustang goalkeeper Liz Hill, he said, the final score could have easily been a 2-0 Wildcat victory.
"We told the team, if we create those chances, we're going to finish them nine times out of 10," he said. "And if not, let it be because the other team makes outstanding plays like they did tonight."
One such play came in the second half off of a cross from senior midfielder Kamaya Damwijk. Senior midfielder Nikki David met the ball with a diving header, forcing Hill to make a difficult save.
The next Wildcat shot came about five minutes later, when sophomore midfielder Sarah Litt apparently had snuck the ball past the goalie, only to watch Hill poke the ball away with her foot to save a goal.
"I don't know how she did it," Tobias said of Hill's save.
Tobias said he liked his team's defensive effort Sunday. He said the majority of the Mustangs' shots were from long range, and that there were only two or three where sophomore goalkeeper McCall Smith needed to leave her feet or dive for a ball.
Smith made nine saves and notched her second shutout of the season, while Hill made five saves and got her first shutout of the season.
"It was a battle throughout," Tobias said. "If one of those (shots) goes in, the rest of the game is very different."
- Amanda Branam
UA men finish 1-2-3-4 in 5,000 meters at USF
The Arizona men's cross country team hit the ground running to open the 2005 season, snaring first place overall in the University of San Francisco Invitational on Saturday.
Wildcat junior Obed Mutanya won the 8,000-meter race, finishing in 24 minutes, 40.7 seconds, followed directly by 2004 Pacific 10 Conference Newcomer of the Year Mohamed Trafeh (24:48.0), Kenny Frank (25:22.5) and Eric Chavez (25.32.0).
Eight schools ran in the invitational, but Stanford and Arizona were the only Pac-10 schools to participate.
Stanford came in second, with seven runners finishing in the top 11 behind Hari Max's time of 25:34.7.
Host University of San Francisco finished fourth in the men's race, led by senior Jason Crichton, who finished 13th at 25:44.0.
The Cardinal took revenge in the women's 5,000-meter race, placing four runners in the first five places.
Stanford sophomore Arianna Lambie won with a time of 18:18.3. Sophomore Angelina Cabrera was the first Wildcat to cross the finish line at 18:35.6, which placed her seventh.
The Arizona women came in second overall, with five runners finishing in the top 20.
The Wildcats open their home schedule on Sept. 16 in the Dave Murray Invitational.
- Anthony Tarnowski