TUCSON, Ariz. -- Three players finished with double-figure kills to lead No. 7 Stanford past Arizona 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18) Friday night at the McKale Center.
Carly Wopat led the three Cardinal players with 15 kills on the night. Wopat had no errors and hit an efficient .625 to go along with five blocks. Inky Ajanaku and Jordan Burgess added 10 kills apiece for Stanford (11-2, 3-0 Pac-12), while Ajanaku finished with a match-high seven blocks. The Cardinal hit .255 on the night but more importantly held the Wildcats to just .158 hitting.
Arizona also had three players in double figures, led by sophomore Madi Kingdon, who had a match-high 20 kills to go along with 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Fellow sophomore Taylor Arizobal had 13 kills and freshman Halli Amaro added 12 kills on .333 hitting.
Freshman Lauren Fuller dished out a season-high 29 assists to go with seven digs, and Candace Nicholson finished with a team-high 16 digs from the back row.
UA got off to a strong start to the match by taking an early 8-4 lead. However, Stanford quickly erased the deficit by winning five of the next six points to tie the score 9-9. After the two teams traded the next several points, Stanford broke a 14-14 tie by winning three consecutive points to lead 17-14. The Wildcats could never pull back even, as the Cardinal took the set 25-20. Stanford hit a solid .318 in the set while UA hit just .184.
The Wildcats won the first point of the second set and never trailed at all in the frame, although it was a tightly contested set in which there were seven ties. Stanford was never able to get over the hump, as UA took the set 25-22.
Stanford jumped out to a quick 10-7 lead in the third set, but Arizona closed the gap with a 3-0 run to tie the score. After the two teams went back and forth for the next several points, Stanford turned a 16-16 tie into a 19-16 lead after winning three straight points. However, Arizona just would not go away as the Cats won the next four points to take a one-point lead at 20-19. The lead was short-lived, as Stanford won the next three points to take a 22-20 lead. The Cardinal then took three of the next five points to win the set 25-22.
The Cardinal opened the fourth set on a 10-4 run, and the Wildcats were never able to close the gap. Stanford went on to win the set 25-18 and end the match. The Cardinal limited the Wildcats to just .095 hitting in the set.
