Arizona defeated ninth-seeded Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to punch its ticket to the Sweet 16 on Saturday night in MSU's Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan.
Arizona and Michigan State battled for five nail-biting sets, with the Cats prevailing in the decisive fifth set (17-25, 25-16, 25-19, 24-26, 15-10).
“I was really proud of the way we played,” said head coach Dave Rubio. “It was an unbelievable match. Both sides were terrific. Michigan State gave us everything we could handle. In the first set, we were getting annihilated, and for us to be able to recover from that was tough for us.”
The Wildcats advanced to their eight Sweet 16 in program history and first since 2005.
Arizona advances to the Sweet 16, which will take place in Lincoln, Nebraska on Friday, Dec. 9. The Cats will meet the winner of the Washington/Kentucky round-of-32 match.
