Men's volleyball improves to 21-0, keeps No. 1 rank

After going 8-0 and winning the Far Western Championship tournament at the University of California Davis last weekend, the UA men's volleyball team improved its record to 21-0 and maintained its stranglehold on its national No. 1 ranking.

Saturday, the Wildcats defeated a California junior college, Los Medanos, 25-13, 25-18, followed by wins over No.15 UC Davis (25-20, 29-27), Chico St. (25-13, 25-6) and Fresno St. (25-16, 25-9).

In the tournament playoffs on Sunday, the Wildcats beat San Jose St. (25-12, 25-9) and UC Davis (25-22, 25-19) in the opening rounds before topping Chico St. (25-17, 25-16) in the semifinals. Arizona downed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 25-12, 25-19 in the finals. The Wildcats did not lose a single game throughout the tournament.

"This weekend we played really well and really consistently," said senior Jeremy Zarowitz. "(Head coach Steve Carlat) has made a point of working us hard in practice and keeping the practices competitive, and this has translated on the court."

This was arguably the toughest weekend of the season to this point for Arizona, other than the Wildcats' defeat of UC Santa Barbara, an NCAA team, earlier in the season.

The team combined for 132 kills in 260 attempts this weekend for a .508 average. In the championship game, the Wildcats were 30 out of 52 for a .577 kill percentage. In that game, Arizona was led by middle blockers Scott Ogilvie, Ty Hayes, Philippe Tuccelli and Zarowitz, who were a combined 11-for-15 (.733) with Ogilvie and Zarowitz hitting a perfect 1.000 (4-4 and 5-5, respectively).

The Wildcats do not play another tournament for three weeks.

Women's ice hockey news

The Arizona women's ice hockey team is close to wrapping up a largely successful season.

Highlighted by wins over rival ASU, Maryland, the local Tucson Chile Peppers and a fourth-place finish in a recent tournament in Colorado, the Icers have come a long way since the team's inception three years ago.

Two weeks ago in a Las Vegas Tournament, the Wildcat Icers played in two different divisions and brought home the championship in both.

Defenseman Ashley Swanson and forward Alicyn Bagierek were named co-MVPs.

Chris Butzer and Lacey James were named to the all-tournament team from the B team, while Erin Breidenbach and Nicole Fyffe were named from the A team.

Team president Tami Thornburg credited the wins to head coach Ben Ladrido's "excellent" coaching.

This weekend, the Wildcat Icers play host to the Phoenix Inferno at the Gateway Ice Center. On Saturday, game time is at 4 p.m. and on Sunday the game is at 10 a.m. On March 3, the team finishes its season against the University of Denver.

Men's water polo sets new school record

Though out of season currently, the Wildcat men's water polo team had quite a season.

Not only did they finish second in their conference, they had a school record six All-Americans. Sean Devlin, Anthony Delorenzo and Brian Snell were first team All-Americans while Chris Thomas, Mike McErlean, and Eric Teacher all were second-team.

Though not competing in a full season currently, the team practices every day at the Student Recreation Center and scrimmages the local masters team every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Wildcats play in three tournaments this spring including the Lobo Invitational in New Mexico, the Desert Duel at ASU, featuring the best masters teams from all over the country, and the third annual Spring Shootout featuring 11 of the best teams from the Southwest and California, played here in Tucson.