Volleyball club performs well at Longhorn Invitational

By Craig Degel

Arizona Daily Wildcat

After a tournament last weekend, the UA men's club volleyball team takes a break this weekend.

Freshmen were the key as Arizona fought to a fifth-place finish at the Longhorn Invitational in Austin, Texas, last weekend.

Led by freshmen Mike Wagner and Mike Bajesi, the Wildcats used victories over Sam Houston, Rice, Tomball College and a United States Volleyball Association team to finish fifth.

Bajesi, a setter, tallied 161 assists for the weekend for an average of 10.6 per game. Wagner hit .410 with 38 kills and 21 blocks. Junior Tyler Page rang up 36 kills and Kelly McGee added 24.

Despite being able to hit at will, the Wildcats were plagued with inconsistency on defense as was evident against the University of Texas. After having the Longhorns at game point, that inconsistency allowed Texas to triumph 16-14.

"If we had played with more consistency we finish number 2 or 3," said assistant coach Skip Grenberg.

Middle blocker Brett Cherry said the Wildcats might actually suffer from too much talent.

"Our biggest problem is having too much athleticism," he said. "We rely on it, so we're not as clean as would should be."

The USVBA team Ämade up of older more experienced players Ä took the title, New Mexico State came in second and host Texas came in third.

Greenberg was pleased with the Wildcats' ability to hold their seed throughout the tournament. The team went into, and came out of the tournament, as the No. 5 team.

"We came out feeling that we can pretty much play with anybody," Greenberg said. "If we fix a couple of things than were a legitimate top 10 team come national tournament time."

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