By Ron Parsons
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Arizona women's volleyball team used a balanced attack to hand No. 5 Washington State only its second loss of the season Saturday night in Pullman, Wash.
The 16th-ranked Wildcats beat the Cougars 15-9, 7-15, 5-15, 15-13, 15-11. Friday, Arizona lost to unranked Washington 15-8, 5-15, 12-15, 8-15.
With the weekend split, Arizona moved to 4-6 in Pacific 10 Conference play, 13-6 overall. Washington State (17-2) fell to 8-2 in the conference.
Four Arizona players reached double figures in kills, and senior setter Laura Bartsch had 58 assists against Washington State (17-2).
Junior outside hitter Barb Bell led the Wildcats with 20 kills, and freshman Keisha Johnson had a career-high 16 kills on only 26 attempts for a .538 hitting average.
Sophomore Carolyn Penfield had 15 kills, and Stephanie Venne added 16 kills and 11 digs.
Bartsch, Arizona's career leader in assists, also had five service aces in the match. Including one she had against Washington on Friday, Bartsch now has 96 aces, putting her in fourth place on UA's all-time list.
Washington State received strong performances from several players, but couldn't overcome Arizona's defense. The Wildcats had 16 team blocks, while the Cougars had just seven.
The Cougars, whose only other loss of the season was to No. 4 Stanford, were led by junior All-American Sarah Silvernail and sophomore Karen Oigman, each with 25 kills. Sophomore setter Stephanie Kopke had a career-high 71 assists for Washington State.