LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Arizona outhit and outblocked the 17th-ranked USC on Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center, but the Trojans won the fourth and fifth sets to come from behind and down the Wildcats in a five-set thriller in L.A. (25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-11).
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UA hit .287 in the five-setter, better than the Trojans' .273. The Cats, who were 9-0 on the season when outhitting their opponent, dropped their first match of 2017 when posting a better hitting percentage than their opponent. The Wildcats also outblocked their counterpart, 12-8.
McKenzie Jacobson, who had a season-high five blocks on Friday at UCLA, bettered that with six to lead the team on Sunday.
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Juniors
Kendra Dahlke and
Tyler Spriggs both posted a match-high 16 kills. The two of them hit well over their season averages; Spriggs hit a team-best .367 and Dahlke hit .268.
Elizabeth Shelton added nine kills on .346 hitting and Jacobson had eight on .316 hitting.
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Arizona's offense enjoyed one of its best matches of the year behind setter
Julia Patterson, who had 52 assists, her most in nearly a month.
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Makenna Martin had 15 digs to lead the way.
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Arizona was terrific in many facets of the game. Serving was not one of them. Arizona had two aces and a season-high 23 service errors. UA had more than 10 service errors in just two matches all season entering Sunday. Meanwhile, USC had six aces.
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The Wildcats dropped to 9-14, 3-11 Pac-12 while USC improved to 18-7, 10-4 Pac-12.
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The Trojans broke away late in what was a very competitive first set, scoring seven of the final nine points to take the opener, 25-20.
Tyler Spriggs had four kills in the first set.
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The Wildcats hit over .500 in the second set and evened up the match with a 25-23 victory.
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USC led most of the third set, including 23-20, but Arizona scored six of the final seven points to steal the set, 26-24.
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In another very tight set in the fourth, Arizona held a 21-20 advantage before the Trojans came back to win the frame, 25-22.
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The Trojans won the fifth set, 15-11, to win the match.
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Up Next: Arizona returns home to face Oregon State (Thursday) and Oregon (Sunday) this upcoming week at McKale Center.
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