By
Kamy Shaygan
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wildcats have won 5 straight matches
The Arizona women's volleyball team proved worthy of their top-25 ranking this weekend by capturing the championship at the Starwoods Plaza Wildcat Classic at McKale Center.
The No. 14 Wildcats swept the competition - New Mexico State, Baylor and Santa Clara - and improved their season record to 5-1 en route to the championship.
Junior setter Dana Burkholder was named the tournament's most valuable player following a career performance in Saturday night's championship match against Santa Clara.
"We were just ready to play," Burkholder said. "I had a good tournament. I could have done some things better, but we won and that's all that matters."
Against the Broncos, Burkholder - a 1999 All-District 8 member - posted a .667 kill percentage with a career-high 13 kills and 51 assists.
"The nice thing about Dana tonight was that she wasn't overzealous about her attacking," UA head coach Dave Rubio said. "She picked and choosed and, as a result, had a great attacking percentage."
Rubio was confident that Burkholder was going to be named tournament MVP, as the junior showed poise and consistency in the Wildcat victories.
Santa Clara, who upset No. 8 Pacific on Wednesday, had swept Baylor and New Mexico State in both Friday matches and were a perfect 5-0 on the season before losing to the Wildcats.
Arizona responded by defeating the surging Broncos, 15-1,15-12, and 17-5 in the tournament's championship match.
In the match, four Wildcats - Jill Talbot, Lisa Rutledge, Stefani Saragosa and Burkholder - finished with double digits in kills.
Talbot and Rutledge each finished with 10 kills while Saragosa, a sophomore, finished with 12.
Rutledge, a sophomore, finally appears to be coming into her own as an outside hitter following her freshman season.
"I thought I did really well" Rutledge said. "We were too big and overpowering for them. They couldn't do much about that."
Senior outside hitter Allison Napier agreed.
"We knew they couldn't hang with us physically because we are just so much more physical than other teams," she said.
Arizona utilized a different strategy against Santa Clara, using offensive weapons other than senior middle blocker Marisa DaLee, the team's main offensive threat in 1999.
The result - a 12-game winning streak and the team's most dominant showing in nearly two seasons.
"We didn't set Marisa - who is our No.1 attacker - as much as we normally do," Rubio said. "That was by design. Dana really got in a rhythm but our idea was to mix it up. I feel that we're so good offensively - Dana can be really creative."
DaLee doesn't seem to mind her scaled-back role in the Wildcat offense's attacking scheme.
"We are just clicking," DaLee said. "This year, I feel like we are on such a different element. We just feel like a big powerhouse."
The Wildcats opened up the tournament Friday by defeating New Mexico State in three games 15-6, 15-3, 15-6.
Saragosa had a career match, collecting 16 kills with a .609 attacking percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Shannon Torregrosa was the only other Wildcat in double digit kills with 12.
In the second match of the tournament, the Wildcats defeated No. 19 Baylor in three games, 15-7, 15-8, 15-3.
Seeking to capitalize on a five-match winning streak, the Arizona women will head to Tempe Wednesday night to face rival Arizona State.
