Pac-12 Players of the Week face Huskies next

The Cal Bears took two of the three top Pac-12 honors this week, earning top offensive and defensive players of the week.

California's Tarah Murrey

Cal’s Tarah Murrey, a leading contender for conference player of the year, won the offense award for her 19 kills and 15 digs in a sweep of Oregon, plus her 18 kills and 20 digs in a four-set win over Oregon State.

Bears’ junior middle blocker Kat Brown had 15 blocks for the weekend, hitting a combined .562.

#4 Cal hosts #2 Washington Friday night in a regional televised showdown billed as the national match of the week.

Madi Kingdon had a match-high 16 kills during Arizona’s 3-2 upset of UCLA and was named freshman of the week.

And speaking of Arizona …

The Wildcats beat the Bruins despite UCLA’s advantage on the stat sheet, including kills (63-59), hitting percentage (.256-.239), service aces (8-4), digs (69-62) and blocks (9.0-6.0). UCLA came into the match rated #2 in the nation.

Never-shy Arizona Coach Dave Rubio, whose team hasn’t been a #1 or #2 team since before Bill Clinton met Monica Lewinsky,  scored the quote of the week:

“UCLA didn’t come in here juiced and we are good enough to push a team like that. We played a lot better during the difficult moments, and that put us in a position to win.”