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CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Sophomore Meghan Cumpston hits the ball past two USC defenders Saturday night. She led the Wildcats with 10 kills and eight digs.
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By Lindsey Frazier
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, October 4, 2004
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The No. 17 Arizona volleyball team remains winless in the Pacific 10 Conference after falling to No. 10 UCLA and No. 3 USC this weekend at McKale Center.
On Saturday night, the Wildcats (8-6, 0-4) lost their fourth consecutive game in a sweep by the Trojans (20-30, 20-30, 23-30).
Southern California kept Arizona to a season-low .105 hitting percentage on 38 kills, while the Trojans hit .310 as a team. Sophomore opposite hitter Meghan Cumpston led the team with 10 kills and eight digs, while freshman setter Amy Dyck saw a majority of the playing time and recorded 24 assists. Senior libero Kelli Mulvany dished out a match-high 12 digs and junior outside hitter Kim Glass managed only seven kills.
On the road Arizona Wildcats | | vs. | | Oregon State Beavers |
Friday, 7 p.m. Corvallis, Oregon |
"The enemy right now is wearing an Arizona uniform," said UA head coach Dave Rubio. "USC didn't have to play. USC wasn't challenged at all tonight - all they had to do was keep the ball in play and Arizona would make the errors."
Rubio said that Arizona's erratic lineup, due to both injury and depth, is the cause for the team's recent losses.
"Last year, it was almost easier because the players on the floor had to be on the floor," he added. "I couldn't make any changes because I had no depth. Whereas now I have some depth and it's just creating more lineup changes and inconsistency - it's not allowing us to get any continuity from one lineup to the next."
"We have to play like we know how to play and come out on the court and do that," said Glass, a two-time All-American. "I didn't really have high expectations for USC. We know what they're going to do. What it comes down to is executing.
"We hate USC with a passion," Glass said of the rivalry between the two teams. "We just can't stand (them), and we just want to go out there and kick their butt."
On Friday, the Wildcats were defeated by UCLA in a four-game battle (20-30, 18-30, 30-19, 25-30).
The Bruins dominated the Wildcats in hitting percentage (.211 to .170), blocks (10.5 to 8) and service aces (10 to 3).
However, Rubio identified the Bruins' serving as the key to their victory.
"I think that we were ill-prepared for the serving that UCLA (had)," he said. "And the pace and the velocity and the aggressiveness of their serving completely took us out of our game. It really becomes a very simple game, it's the execution of two skills - passing and serving. We just made too many unforced errors."
Despite the loss, the Wildcats had four double-doubles in the match. Glass led the team with 25 kills and 16 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy contributed 15 kills and 10 digs. Cumpston notched 10 kills and 13 digs as sophomore setter Stephanie Butkus - who shared playing time with Dyck - recorded 41 assists and 11 digs.
"We're just not very smooth and when you're playing against high-level teams like this in our conference, you're just not going to get away with much," Rubio added. "I know that we are going to be a great team, it's just going to take time for us to get there."
The Wildcats hope to turn their luck around on the road next weekend. On Friday, Arizona takes on Oregon State at 7 p.m. and battles Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m.