Victory was within reach for the No. 9 Arizona volleyball team as it battled Pacific 10 Conference leader No. 2 Washington in McKale Center last night.
But a ball-handling violation on sophomore setter Amy Dyck secured the final point of the fifth game for the Huskies, who won 19-30, 31-29, 30-21, 34-32 and 16-18, extending their season record to 18-0 overall, 10-0 in the Pac-10.
"It's kind of disappointing to lose a match on a mishandled ball like that, but Amy set a heck of a match," said Arizona head coach Dave Rubio. "I'm proud of her. She's made some good strides the last couple of weeks, and I think that tonight was probably the best match she's set. It's just unfortunate that it had to end that way."
Dyck recorded 68 assists, 12 digs and four blocks on the night.
"Other than winning the match, which would have made me the happiest, I'm about as close to be happy as I possibly can (be)," Rubio said. "Washington's just a terrific team. There's a reason why they're the No. 2 team in the country. But tonight Arizona came to play."
Arizona (15-4, 7-3 Pac-10) was out-hit .234 to .189 on the match but out-blocked Washington 17 to 9.5.
"We just feel like they're really beatable," said senior outside hitter Kim Glass, who tallied a career-high 32 kills in addition to 15 digs for her eighth double-double. "Washington is always one of the top teams in the country, obviously. But it just shows you that we are, too."
The final game was played close throughout, as the score was knotted 15 times.
A kill by senior outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy tied the game at 15-15, and Lamb followed with a block to put Arizona ahead, forcing a Washington timeout.
The Huskies scored the next two points to create match point, and double contact on the set by Dyck closed out the Huskies' win.
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"(But) you just can't put it on that last play," she said. "Obviously, that's the one that sticks out last, because that's what happened, but it's a series of events that happened during the game."
Glass notched three of Arizona's first five points to start the fourth game, soon bringing the Wildcats within one point, 6-5.
Later, Lamb followed her own kill and a block to put Arizona up 13-10. Lamb tied her career high in kills (11) and blocks (10) for her first career double-double.
"I'm actually happy how I played, because previous weeks I haven't been satisfied with myself," Lamb said. "But it's downfall, because we didn't win and everybody's just working so hard."
The two teams traded points for the remainder of the fourth game. Arizona was presented with seven game-point opportunities before the Wildcats claimed the win.
In the third game, Arizona fell down 9-2, but rallied back to trail 17-16. The Wildcats again closed the Washington lead to a single point (20-19), but the Huskies scored seven unanswered points, winning by nine points.
After trailing early in the second game, Arizona started to pull away, leading 13-8. The Huskies battled back, closing in to 29-28, but a kill off the antenna put Arizona in position to win three points later.
Washington led throughout the first game, recording four service aces to Arizona's none. The Wildcats narrowed the Huskies lead to four points, 18-14, but got no closer, losing by 11.
"I was really worried the first game," Rubio said. "That kind of how it was up in Washington (in the Huskies sweep over Arizona Oct. 1). I thought, 'This could be fast.' Fortunately, we got back into a rhythm."
Lamb said the differences are dramatic between the Arizona team that lost to Washington and that which made it to a fifth game last night.
"When we played them the first time, we were scared," she said. "We didn't know what to do. And tonight, we just relaxed and just played how we've been practicing."
The Wildcats have a chance for redemption when they take on Washington State (8-15, 1-9) tonight at 7 in McKale.
"Now you got to focus on what we need to (tonight)," Rubio said. "Here we go a long, five-game, emotional match, and then we got to return (today) and be ready to play."
ASU handed the Cougars their seventh straight loss last night at Wells Fargo Arena, 32-30, 30-12, 25-30, 30-26.