Box Score
HONOLULU, Hawaii — San Francisco pushed Arizona to five sets, but lost a thriller 20-25, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24 and 10-15 on Saturday night in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"It was good to see that our team could respond and make comebacks against a very, very good team," USF coach Gilad Doron said. "I told the team before the game that for us to win, it would have to take five sets. We got there, but fell a little short. These are the kind of games that will make us a better team down the road."
It was the Dons' second straight match against a team garnering national attention.
After finding themselves down 16-9 in the first set, the Dons went on a 5-0 run to play their way back into the game. USF (0-2) came as close as 22-20, but a service error, followed by a defensive error and a hitting error gave the opening set to Arizona (2-0).
The Dons responded immediately in the next set, jumping out to 4-1 lead with Valentina Zaloznik and Alycia Cox hitting well early. The majority of the set was neck and neck with neither team able to gain more than a one or two point advantage until a Hadley Simmons' kill gave the Dons some breathing room at 23-19. Jocelyn Levig and Zaloznik both hammered home kills to tie the match at one set each.
USF hit .364 in the second set, compared to the Wildcats' clip of .095.
The third set was all Arizona as USF committed 10 hitting errors to put themselves in the hole early. The Dons weren't able to find their rhythm until the final few points of the set, but it was too late.
After exchanging runs in the fourth set, the two teams played to a 23-23 tie. Malina Terrell gave the Dons a point on a kill, but the Wildcats responded with one of their own to force another tie. Levig put USF up 25-24 with a kill and Arizona looked to have followed suite, but the chair official overruled the line judge to call the ball out and give the set to the Dons.
"Our composure in the fourth set, when Arizona made a late run, was good to see," Doron said. "Our team stayed calm and was able to close out the game."
Arizona broke a 4-4 tie in the deciding set with a 5-0 run from which the Dons were never able to recover from.
Levig notched 21 kills and nine digs, while Zaloznik totaled 16 kills on .333 hitting with six blocks. Setter Joan Caloiaro turned in the Dons' first double-double of the season with 48 assists and 15 digs with five kills, a service ace and a block. Kopilovitch finished with 24 digs, while Cox and Leanna Ludes had 15 and 11 digs, respectively. Terrell added nine kills.
"I thought Becky played phenomenal defensively," Doron said. "She's learning the position and she can be a real asset for us because she plays so fearlessly."
USF closes out the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational against Wichita State at 5 p.m. (PST) on Sunday, Aug. 28 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
