BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 16 Arizona volleyball needed just three sets to defeat California (25-19, 25-19, 25-11) behind dominant performances from senior outside hitters Madi Kingdon and Taylor Arizobal.
“Good win for us on the road,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “I thought Ronni (Lewis) had a breakout match today. Statistically it probably doesn't show up, but she did a lot of really good things for us today. Madi and Taylor had really good matches. Really good weekend for us, I thought we really took a big step forward with a couple of good matches.”
Arizobal set a season high with 17 kills on just 25 swings. Her .600 hitting percentage was a career high.
Two nights after going off for 26 kills and 30 digs, Kingdon put together another great all-around performance. In just three sets vs. Cal, Kingdon totaled 19 kills to go along with 17 digs. The senior added two blocks and an ace to accumulate 22 points in the match.
Senior libero Ronni Lewis and sophomore setter Penina Snuka had 15 digs each in the match, helping limit California to a .183 hitting percentage in the match. Arizona, meanwhile, hit .345, its best output in 10 games. UA outdug Cal decisively, 64-43. Arizona also won the battle at the net with nine blocks to Cal's four.
The Wildcats' road sweep was its third of the Pac-12 season after having just one total in 2012 and 2013 combined.
Arizona scored the first five points of the first set and fought off a Cal comeback attempt to win the first set 25-19 thanks to a whopping 10 kills from Kingdon.
The teams battled in the second set before Arizona broke away late, taking the second set 25-19.
In the third, Arizona used a late 5-0 run to take a 21-18 lead and never looked back. UA won the third 25-21 to ensure the sweep.
The Wildcats return home next week to face Oregon and Oregon State on Thursday and Sunday, respectively. Both games will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
For continued coverage of Arizona volleyball, visit www.arizonawildcats.com and be sure to follow the team on Twitter (https://www.twitter.com/arizonavball) as well as check out the team's YouTube account (https://www.youtube.com/user/arizonavolleyball)
