LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Arizona volleyball swept Montana (25-18, 25-23, 25-14) and defeated UTEP in four sets (25-21, 28-26, 20-25, 25-23) to open the Borderland Invitational in Las Cruces on Friday to improve to 8-0 on the season. The Wildcats will face host New Mexico State on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. MST to conclude the event.
 
Match 1: Arizona 3, Montana 0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-14)
 
Arizona opened the Borderland Invitational with its fourth straight sweep and seventh straight victory to begin 2018 with a straight-set win (25-18, 25-23, 25-14) over Montana on Friday morning in the Pan American Center.
 
Senior outside hitter Kendra Dahlke once again led the Wildcats, notching 18 kills on .417 hitting in the match. Dahlke, who entered the week second in the NCAA in kills/set but narrowed the margin with another solid outing on Friday, has led the Wildcats in kills in every match. Friday's 18-kill effort marked her seventh straight 15-plus-kill match, which is believed to be UA's longest streak since Kim Glass had nine consecutive in 2003. Dahlke added 12 digs for her fourth double-double this season, 23rd of her career.
 
Arizona outhit Montana in the sweep .264-.133 and had seven blocks to the Grizzlies' four.
 
Junior middle blocker Devyn Cross posted another solid outing with eight kills on .350 hitting to go along with two blocks.
 
Freshman outside hitter Whittnee Nihipali had three kills on four error-free swings, a block and an ace, all bests in her short UA career.
 
Makenna Martin led UA in digs for the fifth time, posting 16 digs in the three sets.
 
Dahlke had nine kills in the first set while Montana had 11 as a team. UA cruised in the first set, 25-18.
 
Despite allowing the Grizzlies to hit over .100 points better in the second set (.345-.240), UA edged UM, 25-23 in the second set to take a 2-0 lead. Dahkle (6 kills) and Cross (5 kills) led UA in the second frame.
 
Arizona dominated the third set, posting six of its seven blocks, including three by Elizabeth Shelton, in a 25-14 victory to sweep the set.
 
Match 2: Arizona 3, UTEP 1 (25-21, 28-26, 20-25, 25-23)
 
Arizona completed its sweep of the day with a four-set victory over UTEP (25-21, 28-26, 20-25, 25-23) in Friday's second game of the day. UA's third-set loss ended 15 straight victorious sets for the Wildcats, but UA closed out the Miners in the fourth.
 
"We didn't play our best, but I thought a lot of that had to do with UTEP," said head coach Dave Rubio. "I thought UTEP played really well. It was nice to be able to grind out a win despite some of our best players not playing their best match. Paige (Whipple) was terrific. Paige and our littles kept us in the match."
 
Both offenses struggled in the match, with both teams posting hitting percentages under .230. The exception was Wildcat sophomore outside hitter Paige Whipple who willed the Wildcats to victory with one of the best matches of her career. Whipple led the team with a season-high 18 kills on a career-best .405 hitting percentage.
 
After winning the first set, UA was down big in the second set, trailing the Miners 17-11 before ripping off nine of the next 12 points to tie the second set at 20 and then eventually grinding out a 28-26 win in the second set.
 
But right when the Cats had snagged the match's momentum, it hit just .077 in the third and dropped the frame, 25-20 and had to play a fourth set for the first time in five matches. UA narrowly won the fourth, 25-23 to win the match.
 
In addition to Whipple's 18 kills, senior outside hitter had 16, marking her eighth straight match with at least 15 kills. This match was the first of the season that Dahlke did not lead the team in kills. Dahlke added 10 digs for her second double-double of the day and fifth in eight matches this season.
 
Makenna Martin led the team with 18 of Arizona's 56 digs in the match. The 18 digs tied a season high for the junior.
 
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