By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Rutledge starting to come into her own
The Arizona volleyball team completed its first Bay Area road sweep in school history with a win against California Friday.
The Golden Bears (9-11 overall, 4-9 Pacific 10 Conference) needed a win against team like No. 5 Arizona (19-2, 12-1) to keep its post season alive.
"This was a very important match for Cal and they came with great emotion," head coach David Rubio said.
While the Wildcats did not respond well early in the match, UA managed to overcome an excited Cal team and upset-minded Golden Bear fans to win, 15-9, 15-5, 15-10.
"We came out a bit shaky," senior outside hitter Allison Napier said. "They came out on fire, but we weathered the storm."
The Wildcats outhit the Golden Bears, .287 to .120 and had 50 kills on 115 attempts while committing 17 errors.
Senior middle blocker Marisa DaLee and sophomore outside hitter Lisa Rutledge led the way for the Wildcats in their shutout win.
DaLee had 12 kills and a .524 hitting percentage while Rutledge notched 10 kills with a .471 kill percentage.
"This is the best I have seen Lisa play this year," Rubio said.
Junior setter Dana Burkholder also has noticed the improvement of Rutledge.
"Lisa is starting to come into her own," Burkholder said. "She is learning to use all of the weapons that Dave has taught her in practice. She is just playing awesome right now."
Arizona's depth paid off once again for the Wildcats - with sophomore middle blocker Stefani Saragosa nursing tendonitis in her right arm, junior Erin Sebbas and sophomore Shannon Torregrosa managed to fill in nicely.
"Shannon and Erin give me a great option and they both play great when they come in," Rubio said.
While Torregrosa contributed only four kills, the sophomore led the team with a .600 hitting percentage.
"We miss Stefani a lot," Burkholder said. "It is good, though, that Shannon is getting some experience because it will help us later on down the road if we need to her to come if someone is struggling."
Senior defensive specialist Elvina Clark was also expected to miss the Cal game due to an unknown stomach ailment.
Fortunately for Arizona, Clark played despite the pain and discomfort.
"She knew we needed her," Rubio said. "She gutted it out and played great."
Her teammates were also happy to see Clark play despite the nagging pain.
"All players battle through tough times," Napier said. "People know their limits and she toughed it out. She's is a real trooper."
Even though the Wildcats are coming of a first-ever road sweep of Cal and No. 17 Stanford, the team remains focused.
"We expected to win both matches this weekend," Napier said. "There was no need to celebrate much because we have very high goals set for ourselves.
