TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona fell to Colorado in five sets on Sunday afternoon in McKale Center (26-28, 25-21, 25-14, 23-25, 15-10).
 
"I think the simple answer for me obviously, is that they executed better down the stretch on all the sets that they won," said head coach Dave Rubio. "In set two we were up 18-15, then all the sudden we got stuck in rotation, by the time we turned around it was 18-22. And that's been one of our big issues; being able to finish sets. In game three, we completely rolled over so it wasn't even a competitive game for us, but I was proud of the fact that we got back in the match with a win in the fourth. Then game five we just couldn't execute."
 
Three Wildcats finished with double-digit kills for the match. Elizabeth Shelton led the way with a career-high 16 kills, while Kendra Dahlke had 14 and Paige Whipple added 10. Dahlke had 13 digs as well for her fifth double-double of the season. Additionally, both of Arizona's starting middle blockers, freshman Candice Denny and sophomore Devyn Cross had eight kills each in the match. 
 
"We have to continue to get better," said Shelton after her career performance. "It was a hard loss, coming so close in five sets. Finishing up five points short. At the end of the day, we have to practice to where those five points will not happen. Those runs for the other team do not happen. We have to practice with that mentality that when we get to that point in the game, when were up, we to stay up, we keep our leads, we minimize errors."
 
Makenna Martin picked up her second-straight 20-dig match of the season after no Wildcat was able to accomplish the feat in the first 15 matches of the season. The sophomore matched her career high 21 from Friday night vs. Utah.
 
Julia Patterson dished out 54 assists in the match and also had a career-high five kills.
  
Arizona fell to 8-9 (2-6 Pac-12) while Colorado improved to 14-5 (4-4 Pac-12).
 
Four aces, two from Katie Smoot, helped Arizona take the opening set in a marathon, 28-26. UA scored the set's final three points, fighting off two Colorado set points to take the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Dahlke's seven kills in the second set were not enough as the Buffaloes evened the match with a 25-21 victory.
 
The Buffaloes moved ahead with a convincing 25-14 win in the third.
 
Arizona won the fourth set 25-23 to force a fifth set. Patterson, who entered the match with a career-high of four kills in a match, had four kills in the fourth set to go along with 12 assists.
 
Colorado led wire-to-wire in the fifth, closing out the match with a 15-11 victory.

Up Next: Arizona faces a short turnaround as it will head north to face Oregon State (Wednesday) and Oregon (Sunday) in a pair of matches on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
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