SALT LAKE CITY - No. 19 Arizona volleyball outlasted Utah in a thrilling five-set victory in Salt Lake City on Thursday night (25-21, 25-14, 19-25, 27-29, 15-13).
The Wildcats (17-10, 7-8 Pac-12) were brilliant before intermission, winning the first two sets by comfortable margins. It was a different story after the break as Utah (9-17, 3-12 Pac-12) took the third set and fought off four match points to win the fourth and tie the match.
Arizona, which had not lost a match after being up 2-0 since Sept. 24, 2010 to California, failed to seize the momentum back as the Utes led the fifth 4-1 and later 10-7 before Arizona ripped off a 7-0 run and eventually won the fifth 15-13.
Nikki Attea totaled 14 kills, including the match winner in the fifth, on .407 hitting. Her 14 were second to Kalei Mau's 16, but Attea's effort came on 35 fewer swings.
The Pac-12 leader in double-doubles added another to her season total as Penina Snuka posted 52 assists and 17 digs for her fifth straight double-double and 19th overall.
Laura Larson recorded her 10th straight match with 10 or more digs as she led Arizona with 21, one off her career high.
As a team, UA notched 87 digs, its most the last nine matches.
Halli Amaro, who entered the match six blocks from becoming Arizona's seventh ever player with 400 career blocks, had five blocks to go along with eight kills.
In the first set, Snuka spread the offense around, with four players recording three or more kills as UA defeated Utah 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Arizona limited Utah to an .071 hitting percentage thanks to 20 digs and three blocks.
The Cats kept up the stellar defense in the second, holding the Utes under .000 hitting (-.031) as Arizona cruised to a 25-14 second-set victory.
Arizona raced out to a 7-2 lead in the third, but it was all Utah after that. The Utes ended the set on a 23-12 run, winning the game 25-19 to cut Arizona's lead to 2-1.
The two teams were gridlocked in the fourth until Arizona opened up a three-point lead at the media timeout, 15-12. Arizona would keep the slim lead until earning a pair of match points, 24-22. Utah fought off those two, along with two additional set points at 25-24 and 26-25, and came back to force a fifth set, winning 29-27.
Utah scored four of the first five points in the fifth before Arizona fought back to tie the match at seven. Utah went on a 3-0 run to take a comfortable 10-7 lead with five points remaining for the victory, but Arizona ripped off a 7-0 run, taking its first lead of the fifth in the process. However, Utah, after scoring on four Arizona match points in the third, fought off three set points in the fifth to cut the Wildcat edge to 14-13. Attea ended the match with a kill to give Arizona a 15-13 win in the fifth and a 3 sets to 2 victory in the match.
Up Next: The Cats wrap up their road trip on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST in Boulder against Colorado.
Follow Arizona Volleyball: For further coverage of Arizona volleyball, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow the team's Twitter and Instagram accounts (@ArizonaVBall).
