By
Brian Penso
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA dominates Oregon, Oregon State at McKale Center
The Arizona volleyball team won two crucial Pacific 10 Conference games against Oregon State and Oregon this weekend to give UA sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 with only three conference matches left to be played.
"It's nice to be in first place, but we know we still have a lot of work left to be done," junior setter Dana Burkholder said. "We are just looking ahead to playing Florida on Tuesday."
The No. 5 Wildcats were able to stand alone atop the conference standing because UCLA defeated USC Friday night in Los Angeles to give Arizona a game and a half lead over the Trojans.
"I really don't think about it much because we still have the L.A. trip," head coach David Rubio said. "My focus is at the end of the season, and we still have a tough two weeks remaining in our schedule."
Friday night, the Wildcats (21-2, 14-1) breezed by the Ducks (9-13, 1-12) with a 3-0 sweep at McKale Center. The game took a mere 55-minutes, which is the shortest match in UA history.
"I respect each Pac-10 team," Rubio said. "For us to play at a high level and sustain that level says a lot about the way we feel about the other team and it says a lot about our team and how they stayed focused for the entire game."
Arizona finished with 27 kills on 59 attempts for a .339 hitting percentage.
They also out blocked the Ducks 12-3.
Coming into the match, Rubio warned that the Wildcats could not overlook Oregon despite its poor record.
"Like we have always said, any team in the Pac-10 can beat anyone on any given night," sophomore middle blocker Stefani Saragosa said. "Oregon plays with a lot of heart and lot of emotion. We just play our game and we don't drop to anyone's level."
After an easy victory, Oregon State (15-11, 5-9) tested the Wildcats the following night.
Arizona took the first game 15-5, but the Beavers took the second game 15-10.
At the start of the third game, the Beavers went out to a quick 5-1 lead, but the Wildcats took control and won the third game, 15-8, and proceeded to take the fourth game, 15-4, sealing the Arizona victory.
UA was again led by senior middle blocker Marisa DaLee, who had 13 kills on 26 swings for a.500 hitting percentage. This was her 11th game with at least a .500 hitting percentage this season.
"It shows the strength of our team," DaLee said of her hitting percentage. "It shows how good our passing and setting is."
Sophomore outside hitter Lisa Rutledge continued her recent success with 13 kills on 21 swings for a team high .571 kill percentage.
"Rutledge is making some nice attack choices," Rubio said. "More importantly she is playing with confidence and great aggressiveness in her swing."
This weekend also marked the return of Saragosa, who was out for two weeks with tendonitis in her right arm. The addition of Saragosa was negated, though, by the loss of senior defensive specialist Elvina Clark to an unknown stomach ailment.
Filling in for Clark however, was freshman outside hitter Christina Frost.
"Christina is a really tough kid," Rubio said. "She plays really hard and she filled in real nicely this weekend."
Frost was happy to see some more playing time, but she was more pleased with the victory.
"It's nice to know we have a deep team where we can put different people in and still win a game like this," Frost said.
