Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Volleyball team sweeps Virginia in first round

Bring on Erin Aldrich.

The UA women's volleyball team is headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a 15-8, 15-4, and 15-12 sweep of Virginia last night in Austin, Texas. In doing so, UA advanced to the second round, where they will face No. 15 Texas tonight at 6.

"We lost to a very good team in Arizona," Virginia head coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton said. "So there's nothing to be ashamed of."

The Wildcats were led by their lone senior, outside hitter Raelene Elam, whose 17 kills led all scorers. Elam finished the sweep over UVA with a .536 kill percentage. Sophomore Dana Burkholder added 50 assists for the match, while junior middle blocker Marisa DaLee and freshman outside hitter Lisa Rutledge combined for 30 kills en route to the sweep.

"Lisa played very well for us," UA head coach David Rubio said. "We knew we would be able to give Virginia problems if they didn't pass well, and they didn't."

With the first game tied 5-5, Wildcats ran off nine unanswered points, winning the game, 15-5. UA then cruised to a 15-4 second-game victory. UVA challenged in game three, getting ahead by the score of 12-10 at one time.

Following one kill from Jill Talbot and two from Stefani Saragosa, the Wildcats were back in the match. They finished with a 15-12 victory, cementing the sweep.

UA hit .389 from the field in the 90-minute match, the highest such percentage in Arizona's NCAA Tournament history.

The UA victory, coupled with Texas' win over Houston last night, has set up an intriguing second round match against the Longhorns. UT is led by middle blocker Erin Aldrich, a former Wildcat who transferred to Texas to pursue her track career.

"It was really disappointing when Erin transferred because she's such a great player," Burkholder said. "We're not focusing entirely on her, though."

The team has been playing well of late against ranked teams. Rubio thinks the Wildcats are on the verge of maturing into the kind of team they can be.

"We've been knocking on the door against the best teams in the nation this season," he said.