VBALL: Wildcats Sneak Past Cougars

Photos By Jayden Haloossim KAMP Sports

Image By Jayden Haloossim KAMP Sports

By Gabi Alvarado

On Wednesday night, the BYU Cougars visited our Arizona Wildcats for the first, at home, for a conference game. The Wildcats first home conference match this season. Coming off of a two game losing streak from their first few in-conference games, Arizona came home looking for a win to redeem themselves and prove they have what it takes to be in the Big 12. Not to mention the fact that BYU is ranked number 20 in the NCAA volleyball rankings, which means the Wildcats were taking on a tough opponent.

The game kicked off just a few minutes after six p.m., and Arizona immediately took the lead. Star player Carlie Cisneros scored the first ace of the game early on in the game, building the momentum the team would continue to feed off of during the first match. Fellow teammate Jaelyn Hodge dominated the attacks in the first set, one of her many kills being the move that scored the match point, making the final score of the first set 25-13 Arizona. The second set seemed like a complete turn around. The Wildcats struggled to get their first few points and throughout the set, never maintained a lead. It seemed in this set that BYU’s offense was finally getting to the Wildcats, who could get touches on the ball but could not execute them for points. Overall, this set was much slower and points kept going back and forth between each team. After a tough set, BYU came out on top with a score of 23-25.  The third set began with both Arizona and BYU getting hyped up, hoping to advance their own leads. Outside hitter Jordan Wilson started making more big plays in this set, racking up kills to help Arizona keep up with BYU’s leads. Arizona kept missing balls this set, which compared to the first set made a significant difference in the direction of the game. Arizona finally begins to be dominant, careful not to give BYU a chance to catch up again late in the game. As the always energetic crowd cheers and the Wildcats approach match point, BYU’s attempt at a kill goes out, giving Arizona their second set win of the night, 25-21.

The fourth set was yet another tough loss for Arizona, with the score constantly going back and forth between the teams. BYU mostly got points from hitting in the Wildcat’s back row, with repeated missed balls. After a string of defensive mistakes, the Cougars won the fourth set 18-25. Going into their fifth and final set, the Arizona sideline was lively and hyped up the crowd. The first few points went back and forth with the Wildcats gaining the lead right before the teams needed to switch sides. BYU’s defense was really strong this set with their players getting to the tough balls that Arizona was trying to get them with. The crowd got louder and louder, eventually, the Wildcats came out on top, winning 15-13 in their final set. This game was a great match between two very tough teams, but it was a confidence boost coming back from their two losses in Texas. Now, the team has to prepare to play another in-conference opponent, Utah, on Friday at home.