TUCSON Arizona volleyball dropped a trio of closely-contested sets to fourth-ranked Wisconsin, as the Badgers swept Arizona on Saturday night in Honolulu, Hawaii (26-24, 26-24, 25-22).
 
Arizona outhit the Badgers (.176 - .156) and outblocked its first top-five opponent of the year (13.0 - 10.0), but were unable to close out a pair of set points in the first two frames. UA dropped to 2-0 with the loss while Wisconsin improved to 2-0.
 
"We played much better tonight," said head coach Dave Rubio. "We put ourselves in a position to win every set. They have potentially the player of the year, Lauren Gallini, who made plays at the end of every set and pushed them over the top. But I thought we made good progress from last night to tonight, and we just need to carry that into tomorrow night vs. Hawaii."
 
Kalei Mau, who led Arizona with 19 kills on Friday night vs. Kansas State, played sparingly due to injury. Arizona was forced to look elsewhere for offense and found it in the right arm of Kendra Dahlke. The sophomore led all scorers with 17 kills, a new career high. As a freshman, Dahlke had four matches with 10-or-more kills; in her first two matches of 2016, Dahlke has supplied 11 and 17 kills, respectively.
 
Arizona was dominant at the net, posting 13 blocks in just three sets. Freshman Devyn Cross led the charge with seven blocks. Cross also led the Wildcats in blocks on Friday vs. KSU.
 
Penina Snuka has led the Pac-12 in double-doubles each of her three years at Arizona; she picked up No. 1 in 2016 on Saturday, posting 31 assists and 14 digs. Laura Larson led the Cats with 15 digs, her 18th straight match with double-digit digs, dating back to last year. 
 
Contrary to its slow start on Friday night vs. Kansas State, Arizona came out clicking on all cylinders, opening a quick 10-3 lead vs. the Badgers on an efficient offense. Wisconsin responded though, eventually chipping Arizona's lead away and drawing even at 17. The teams traded points until UA earned a set point at 25-24. Wisconsin protested a rotation error only to the point awarded to the Badgers, helping Wisconsin take the opening set, 26-24.
 
Wisconsin surged ahead in the second set with a 13-4 run to grab a six point lead, but the Cats fought back. A late 6-1 run gave the Cats a set point at 24-23, but the Badgers answered with a 3-0 run to close out the set.
 
Arizona battled in the third set once again, but ran out of gas as the Badgers took the third set, 25-22.
 
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