TUCSON, Ariz. -- No. 25 Arizona swept Colorado (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) in the first of four consecutive home matches for the Wildcats at McKale Center.

The victory ended a stretch of four straight losses for the Wildcats (15-6, 4-5 Pac-12), who have a chance to get back to .500 in Pac-12 play on Sunday vs. Utah in the final match of the first half of conference play. Colorado fell to 11-9, 3-6 Pac-12. 

"It's nice to win," said head coach Dave Rubio. "I don't know if we were that sharp offensively. There were parts of the game that I thought were very good: our serving and passing, I thought tonight was excellent. In this conference when you lose four matches in a row you're not sure when you're going to win again, so it's nice to be able to feel what it's like to win."

The Wildcats won on Friday night despite just a .151 hitting percentage offensively. On the other side of the net, UA limited Colorado to just a .145 hitting percentage, helped out by the Wildcats' nine blocks defensively.

"I think our offense just really wasn't in sync," said Rubio. "I thought that we were a little bit slow, the match was kind of slow in general. I think that it was nice to have Kendra (Dahlke) back and now that we have everybody back ostensibly it's something to build on."

In her first match back from a concussion, the Pac-12 leader in kills, senior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke, led the Wildcats with 13 kills in the sweep. 

"It was great, I really wanted to get back," said Dahlke. "There was no real timeline for head injuries or anything, but I was feeling good enough the past couple days."

Junior setter Julia Patterson had a season-high 16 digs, part of her ninth double-double of the season. Patterson had 25 assists, four kills and four blocks to go along with her team-best 16 digs.

"I think it was pretty important just to give us that confidence again," said Patterson of the victory. "Obviously we had a great start to Pac-12 play and then losing the past four games and kind of, you can tell the team was a little bit down. And so even though we're putting that work every day and we're coming in the mornings and working hard, it wasn't really paying off. So I think this one will really help us get back in there nicely."

Sophomore middle blocker Shardonee Hayes led the Wildcats with five blocks to go along with her seven kills on the night. Her 12 points marked a career high.

Arizona out-killed (52-37), out-dug (45-41) and out-blocked (9-6) the Buffaloes in the match.

S1 (Arizona 25, Colorado 21): Colorado led early on in the first set, but an 8-1 run helped the Cats turn the early three-point deficit into a four-point lead. UA would open up its lead to 21-14 and fight off a late Colorado rally to win the first set, 25-21. 

S2 (Arizona 25, Colorado 23): The Wildcats were cruising in the second, leading 15-9, before the Buffaloes stormed back to take the lead at 18-17. Arizona would rally and win the second set, 25-23. The Cats had four blocks in the second set; Candice Denny and Devyn Cross were in on three apiece.

S3 (Arizona 25, Colorado 22): Arizona finished strong with a 25-22 victory in the third to sweep the Buffaloes. Dahlke notched six kills on just 11 swings in the final set.

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Up Next
The Wildcats continue their homestand on Sunday vs. Utah at noon in McKale. The match will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.