Arizona Stands Off Determined WSU

Although the Washington State University volleyball team turned in a valiant effort Sunday, the Cougars fell short of reaching the .500 mark for the season when they lost a five-set match to Arizona.

The host Wildcats claimed an 18-16, 6-15, 11-15, 15-13, 15-12 triumph in the final match of the Pacific-10 Conference season.

Arizona improved its prospects for the NCAA Tournament by bumping its record to 21-6 with a 12-6 conference mark. WSU, which had hoped to rekindle its postseason prospects, fell to 11-13, 8-10.

Arizona climbed above the 20-win mark for the first time since 1982.

Washington State will conclude its regular season Friday and Saturday at the four-team Southeast Conference-Pac-10 Challenge Tournament in Florida.

Sunday, the Cougars received 20 kills and a career-high 10 blocks from Wendy Rouse.

As it turned out, they could have swept the match.

The Cougars led the first game 12-6 and 14-10, but they failed to score in seven tries at game point. Eventually, the Wildcats came away with the victory when WSU’s Samantha Spink was called for a lift.

WSU scored 20 straight points on Joy Sperry’s serve rotation on the way to winning the second game. The Cougars took the third by scoring the last six points, thanks to three kills apiece by Rouse and Sperry.

“I can’t be unhappy about the way we played today,” Cougars coach Cindy Fredrick said. “We did a good job to stay in the match and we never quit, never gave up.”