In for the kill

Aaron Wickenden Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior middle blocker Keisha Johnson Demps (25) left Friday's five set win over Arizona State at McKale Center with a career high 21 kills. The UA volleyball team improved its record to 19-6 with two games left before the NCAA tournament.

With both teams struggling as of late, Friday's match would be a big confidence booster heading into the final weekend of the regular season next week and toward the NCAA tournament next month.

"I knew it would be a long, drawn-out match," Rubio said. "I was preparing that scenario all week, knowing that those streaks are going to occur."

The match between the two in-state rivals turned out to be everything that it was expected to be, with Arizona (19-6, 10-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference) pulling out the win 16-14, 10-15, 15-6, 15-17, 15-7.

"With ASU, it's always going to be a dog fight," freshman outside hitter Jill Talbot said. "I just got this feeling of confidence sensed from everyone, and I knew we were going to win the fifth game."

Arizona was down 14-10 in the fourth game, but came back to tie it up and have a chance to win the match. The Sun Devils managed to pull out the game and force a fifth game, which was expected to be as close as the previous game.

It was all Arizona in the fifth, as the Wildcats jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back.

"With the game fives, you never know," Rubio said. "We were so steady in game five, and we kept the pressure on them by not letting them score points."

"I never saw us go down once," he said. "I'm proud of them for persevering."

The fifth game is played using rally scoring, where you don't have to be serving to score points. This leads to a fast and, usually, close ending.

"Even though we didn't win game four, we brought the momentum into the next game," Talbot said.

Senior middle blocker Keisha Johnson Demps tied a career-high with 21 kills and added 20 digs and three service aces. Talbot hit .318 with 10 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Allison Napier had 18 kills.

ASU outside hitter Amanda Burbridge had a game-high 23 kills.

This was the seventh out of the last eight meetings between the two schools that went five games. It was also Arizona's fifth straight victory over the Sun Devils.

ASU dropped to 10-13, 7-9 in the Pac-10, eliminating them from postseason play for the second year in a row.

"It's a great rivalry, and it's always a good week when you beat ASU," Rubio said. "We've been on a down cycle, and for us to come out with a win is good for us."

Bryan Rosenbaum can be reached via e-mail at Bryan.Rosenbaum@wildcat.arizona.edu.