TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona volleyball defeated Oregon on Sunday afternoon at McKale, holding off the Ducks in four hard-fought sets (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24) to close out the first half of Pac-12 play with a win.
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The Wildcats won the first two sets on Sunday, taking a 2-0 lead in the match before Oregon won set three and led big in set four.
Down 19-13 in the fourth, the Cats were facing a deja vu of Friday night, when Arizona won sets 1 and 2 before Oregon State took the final three sets to win the match.
Instead, the Cats erased the six-point deficit, storming from behind to take the fourth set, 26-24, and win their first match since Oct. 6.Â
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Paige Whipple had the match-clinching kill for the Cats to put it away and three kills in Arizona's last four points as the Cats looked to her to put the match away. Whipple finished with a team-high 17 kills on 55 swings.
Devyn Cross added a career-high 16 kills on .355 hitting while
Katie Smoot posted 13 kills on .333 hitting.
The Wildcats were once again strong defensively in the match, holding Oregon to just .222 hitting. Arizona out-dug Oregon 71-59 in the match, led by 18 digs from
Emi Pua'a and 16 from
Kamaile Hiapo. Whipple added 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
Hiapo's 16 digs give her a team-most 225 this season, moving her onto the Arizona freshman top 10 list. She currently checks in at No. 9.Â
The Cats improved to 12-10, 2-8 Pac-12 while the Ducks dropped to 6-13, 2-8 Pac-12.
Arizona will now turn its attention to the second half of Pac-12 play, which will begin in Boulder, Colorado. Arizona will take on Colorado (Friday) and Utah (Sunday) next weekend on the road.
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