Early dismissal unsettling for volleyball squad

The coaching staff talked about how the Golden Eagles (29-9) were too good of a team for the 10th-ranked Wildcats to meet so early in the single-elimination tournament.

"They were the wrong opponent for us to go up against," coach Dave Rubio said.

"They're an excellent team and as I was watching them on film, I realized this would be a very difficult match for us."

There were complaints that teams ranked below Arizona had easier first round matches like No. 23 San Diego playing 20-12 Kansas State.

And there were warnings of the Golden Eagles' six Brazilians. Rubio said one of the foreign players had "more experience than all of my team."

Arizona players talked about pressure surrounding every game being possibly the last one for the five Wildcat seniors.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what it was Saturday night as the Wildcats concluded their season when they dropped the opening match of the tournament to Oral Roberts, 15-13, 8-15, 15-8, 1-15, 11-15, in Boulder, Colo. It was the first time since October 1996 that Arizona lost a five-game match.

"Personally, I don't like the way we competed. I feel there were individuals out there who were not ready to compete and I strongly believe that's why we lost," senior Michaela Ebben said. "All the things everyone was saying were excuses, I think.

"I don't have hard feelings. I just think people didn't step up to play. We lost as a team. It wasn't just one person and I find it really confusing for that (to happen) at this point in the season."

The Wildcats finished 20-7 overall and 12-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference, their best-ever league mark, and were expected to make a run in the tournament behind the leadership of their largest senior group in school history.

Instead, for the first time under Rubio and his five seniors, the team exited in the first round.

"The unfortunate part for us is I didn't think we played well at the right times throughout the match," Rubio said.

"Our key players have really had somewhat of an atypical match. We weren't able to offset Carrie (Penfield), (Michelle) Fanger, Ali (Napier) and Raelene (Morton). Once again, they didn't have a normal match."

Penfield, an All-Pac-10 selection, hit just .109 (12 kills, seven errors, 46 attacks). Fanger hit .042. Morton's hitting percentage was minus .400 while Napier, her substitute much of the match, hit six kills and three errors in 16 swings for a .188 mark.

"I know we weren't as productive as we could have been but that's a totally different thing than not playing as hard as we could have," Napier, a true freshman said.

The four middle blockers hit a collective .353, but it wasn't enough to compensate for problems on other parts of the court. Rubio said sophomore Erin Aldrich (seven block assists and a .556 hitting percentage) and junior Keisha Johnson (14 kills and five block assists) played "their best games of the year."

Ebben, a senior, tallied 50 assists in another solid performance. She could have racked up more if Arizona's passes were more on target. The Wildcats recorded nine serve-receive errors.

"We never clicked and our passing was a major downfall. We didn't step up to the challenge as passers and that's probably why we lost the game," Fanger said. "We didn't take care of our side and couldn't get things going. We kind of shot ourselves in a lot of ways."

Ebben estimated she only touched the ball six times in the fourth game. During the 15-1 trample, Arizona only rotated three times.

"We weren't even competitive," Rubio said.

During the team's 10-minute "cooling off" period after the match, the locker room remained silent. Many players on the team went their own ways for dinner.

"It was painful right after the match...and it's good that it's painful. It should be," Rubio said. "When you give every ounce of heart and soul it's going to be painful if you come up short and that's okay.

"The thing about athletics is you're not only dealing with great wins and elation. You're dealing with disappointing losses and pain and sorrow. (In those situations) you learn about yourselves. You get a look at yourself during those painful moments and grow as you get through them."

Napier said the experience will stick out in her mind when she is a senior competing in her last tournament and not wanting a first-round exit.

Ebben said she still hasn't figured out why the team lost, let alone what she can take from the experience.

Fanger learned that although things don't always end well, the ending is not the most important thing.

"Sometimes a season is defined by how you finish," Rubio said. "I'd certainly be disappointed if my players felt like this season was a disappointment because we lost that last match."