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Arizona volleyball swept by Tulsa in huge letdown Arizona looked like a completely different team on Saturday After the Arizona Wildcats had a competitive loss against No. 10 Creighton on Friday afternoon, head coach Rita Stubbs said it would mean nothing if they didn’t come out and compete as hard against Tulsa on Saturday. Her concern became prophecy when the Wildcats (2-3) were swept by the Golden Hurricanes (5-0). Tulsa came back to win set one 29-27, saving three Arizona set points. The Hurricanes ran away with the next two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-18. “They kept coming,” Stubbs said. “We got timid.” Arizona had struggles all over the court. Serve receive was the biggest one. Tulsa had 11 aces and often had the Wildcats out of system. That led to setting problems, with sets ending up behind attackers or sailing over their outstretched hands on several occasions. Then came defense. While the Golden Hurricanes always seemed to get to the ball, the Wildcats had far too many end up in unexpected places that they couldn’t defend. One reason for that was how well Tulsa moved the ball around. Five players had at least five kills each, led by Jill Hanson. She had 12 kills on 17 swings without an error for a .706 hitting efficiency. It wasn’t just the typical attackers who scored against Arizona. Setter Brittany Bacorn had 29 assists, but it was just as important that she had five kills on .714 hitting. She attempted the setter dump seven times and found the floor without any errors. It was especially effective in the final two sets. “We are slow to get back ready,” Stubbs said. “We are too lax.” On the other side of the net, Arizona had just three players with at least five kills. Only one had more than six. Stubbs subbed on several occasions, saying that she was “looking for our Alpha.” Brookelyn Hatton and Payton Woods were two of the most effective in that regard. “[They] added some fight,” Stubbs said. Woods played parts of two sets, subbing in for both Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Carlie Cisneros at various times. She ended with four kills on .300 hitting while only playing the front row. She also had one block for 4.5 points. Hatton came in as a defensive specialist in two sets. She had one kill and five digs. Stubbs also used freshman Gigi Whann as the libero for a while before switching back to starter Brenna Ginder. Up next for Arizona volleyball Bluejay Invitational Game 1: Creighton def. Arizona 3-2 (26-24, 19-25, 19-25, 25-18, 15-12) Game 2: Tulsa def. Arizona 3-0 (29-27, 25-16, 25-18) Game 3: Arizona (2-3) vs Pepperdine (3-2) When: Sunday, Sept. 6 @ 10 a.m. MST Where: D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb. Streaming: ESPN+ Stats: Arizona Live Stats Ndam-Simpson had a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. She added an ace to lead the team with 14 points. On the down side, she was also the victim of five Tulsa aces. Arizona started the match looking like the same team that pushed Creighton the day before. The Wildcats built a 17-10 lead in the first set. That’s when Tulsa started to find its way. The Golden Hurricanes finished closing the gap on the serve of Maegan Mills. She stepped to the service line with Arizona leading 19-15. When she was done, the teams were tied at 20. The run included two aces. Arizona edged back ahead, but Tulsa called time with the Wildcats up 23-22. After the talk, Maria Olga Siapani served into the net to tie it up again. Tulsa returned the favor with a service error from Mikey Freeman. Arizona had set point at 24-23. Tulsa saved one set point, then the Wildcats got another on one of Journey Tucker’s five kills. That was wiped away by an unforced attacking error. Tulsa got its first set point on an ace, moving Stubbs to call time. The Wildcats tied it at 26 on a kill from Kennedy Osunsanmi. The right side had six kills on the day. The Wildcats earned their third set point when Cisneros got her only kill of the day. It was Arizona’s final point in the set. Tulsa closed it out with an ace that hit the net then dribbled over onto Arizona’s side. It might be the most frustrating play in volleyball, but it’s one the Wildcats were only facing because they let down on serve receive in the middle of the set. The Wildcats rose to the occasion on Friday after they dropped the opening set in extra points. They didn’t respond the same way against Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes came out hot, feeding off their success in the first set. Bacorn served the first six points. The run included an ace and two attacking errors by Arizona. Cisneros used her own service run to tie the set at 5-5. It was one of only two occasions when Arizona scored more than one point in a row during the second set. Tulsa had six runs of at least two points. Five of those were 3-point runs. The Wildcats couldn’t keep up. Arizona started better in the third set. The Wildcats went up by two on a couple of occasions, but they stalled after an 11-11 tie. Tulsa was up 16-11 in the blink of an eye and the match was essentially over. Arizona will try to salvage a win over Pepperdine (3-2) on Sunday. The Waves lost in four sets to both Creighton and Tulsa.