Arizona started its season 11-0 and finished it off going 11-0 with an NIVC championship, won in thrilling fashion in five sets over Bowling Green on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats (24-9) overcame a 2-1 deficit in sets and beat the Falcons 27-29, 25-23, 18-25, 25-17 and 15-9 in front of 2,696 at McKale Center.
Jaelyn Hodge, a fifth-year senior who stuck it out with an extra season from the COVID-19 year of 2020-21, took over in the fifth set with four kills, two blocks and an ace.
After a Carlie Cisneros block put Arizona in match and set point, Bowling Green scored twice on a kill by Mia Tyler and an attack error by the Wildcats.
The Wildcats finished it following an attack error by Tyler.
Jordan Wilson, a junior who is a transfer from USC, and Avery Scoggins, a freshman standout like Cisneros, made the all-tournament team while Hodge — who had 25 kills against Bowling Green — was selected the Most Valuable Player.
ARIZONA is the NIVC champions
Beat Bowling Green in five sets, winning the last one 15-9.
Wildcats end season with 11 straight wins.
Amazing. pic.twitter.com/OvIXBbO84t— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) December 18, 2024
Scoggins finished with 54 assists.
Journey Tucker, a sophomore, recorded eight blocks.
Wilson finished with 18 blocks.
It was the first postseason championship won by Arizona’s volleyball program.
The Wildcats reached the Final Four in 2001 under longtime coach David Rubio, who coached Arizona coach Charita Stubbs, a middle blocker, with the Wildcats from 1990 to 1994.
Stubbs, similar to Adia Barnes, has the honor of leading her alma mater to a title won at McKale Center.
Barnes led the Wildcats’ basketball program to a WNIT championship in 2018-19 over Northwestern.
Bowling Green (25-10) entered the match 0-4 against Power 4 schools, losing twice to Ohio State and also to Cincinnati and Illinois. The Falcons were 1-12 in the sets of those matches.
They matched that set win total in the first frame against Arizona.
Arizona squandered an 18-12 lead in the first set, allowing Bowling Green to rally for a 21-20 behind a the play of Amanda Otten at the net (including two kills in that stretch).
Arizona had set point at 24-23 but a Lauren Hovey kill tied it for Bowling Green.
The Wildcats again had set point, leading 25-24 but the Falcons tied it again on a Jessica Andrews kill.
A kill by Tyler followed by an ace by Otten gave Bowling Green a 29-27 win in the first set.
NIVC CHAMPIONS:
Arizona rallies to beat Bowling Green in five sets to claim NIVC championship, complete magical 11-0 end to the regular season.
Early recap -https://allsportstucson.com/2024/12/17/arizona-rallies-to-beat-bowling-green-in-five-sets-to-claim-nivc-championship/
Arizona lost the first set twice in its winning streak entering Tuesday — against UCF at McKale and at Texas Tech — and rallied to win each match in five sets.
The Wildcats again were pushed to the brink in the second set after allowing a 17-9 to slip away.
They recovered after the Falcons outscored Arizona 4-1 to tie the match at 23.
A kill by Tucker gave Arizona set point. An attack error by Tyler resulted in a 25-23 win for the Wildcats.
Bowling Green took a 5-1 lead in the third set and led throughout.
Arizona cut the lead to 13-12 but the Falcons scored six straight points, taking advantage of three attack errors by the Wildcats.
Tucker’s kill cut the lead to 23-18 but the Falcons closed the set on kills by Tyler and Hovey.
Arizona pulled away in the fourth set, scoring five straight points to win 25-17 and force the fifth and final set.
In that run, Hodge and Wilson each had a kill and a block and Cisneros capped the set with an ace.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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