KEVIN KLAUS

UA senior setter Dana Burkholder saves a kill during a match last season in McKale Center. The UA women's volleyball team opened up the 2001 season by winning a tournament hosted by Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Burkholder was named the tournament's most valuable player.

Tuesday September 4, 2001

Burkholder named Florida SunTrust Invitational MVP

The Arizona volleyball team traveled to Florida this weekend to open its 2001 season in the Florida SunTrust Invitational. And the Wildcats - who made the Elite Eight last season - managed to pick up right where they left off.

Sixth-ranked Arizona (3-0) breezed through its three opponents - South Florida, Marshall and Florida - without losing so much as a game in each match.

After defeating South Florida (30-26, 30-19, 30-23) and Marshall (30-19, 30-22, 30-19) on Friday night, Arizona's real test came Saturday against No. 9 Florida (2-1).

UA players said the atmosphere created by the 4,381 fans packed into the O'Connell Center created an ambience comparable to that of a championship game. Arizona defeated the Gators 3-0 (30-27, 30-28, 30-21).

"We had an awesome team effort this past weekend," senior setter Dana Burkholder said. "The environment we faced was like the one we faced in

Nebraska last year (during the NCAA Tournament), and that helped us a lot. We felt really relaxed even though there were almost 5,000 people, and we just went out there and had fun."

Senior outside hitter Jill Talbot said she was pleased with the way Arizona's attack managed to keep the Florida crowd out of the match.

"It was a great environment to play in," Talbot said. "It was an awesome feeling, and it will help our team in the playoffs. Playing on the road makes us tougher, and when we play well, the crowd becomes silent and it feels great to shut them up."

UA head coach Dave Rubio compared the crowd to that of a Gator football game. The Florida football team - ranked No. 1 in the nation - also opened its season against Marshall during the weekend.

However, the large crowd never intimidated Arizona.

"I am very happy with the way we contended and competed in such a hostile environment vs. Florida," Rubio said. "It was as hostile in Florida as it will be anywhere. It was a football weekend there, and that added to the many elements that we had to overcome. I think playing in Nebraska in the Elite Eight was just as hostile as our game vs. Florida."

Junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge and junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa led the way for the Wildcats.

Rutledge tallied a team-high 16 kills. and Saragosa added 11 kills.

"I went out against Florida with the sole purpose of winning," Rutledge said. "I didn't care how it happened, I just wanted to come out and play and that's what I did."

Burkholder was pleased with the effort her teammates gave this weekend.

"We passed great this weekend, which allowed for our offense to click. Jill and Lisa had great success on the outside and Stefani played great for us in the middle," she said.

Burkholder finished the match with 40 assists.

Despite the offense's success, Arizona's defense contained Florida throughout the match.

Despite logging a double-double in the match, UF outside hitter Aury Cruz (19 kills and 10 digs) and the Gators were unable to overcome Arizona's 14 team blocks at the net.

"Our middle played great for us all weekend," Rubio said. "Both Stefani and Erin (Sebbas) had solid performances. Their success has a lot to do with the way Dana moved the ball around, which allowed them to be an offensive threat at the net. Our system this weekend ran efficiently and Erin was very

dominant defensively at the net."

Sebbas finished the match with seven total blocks.

Burkholder earned tournament MVP honors as she tallied 102 assists in the two- day tournament.

Rutledge and Talbot were selected to the All-Invitation Team.

"Everyone played well this weekend, but we all need to improve," Burkholder said. "Personally, I need to become a better server and defender. If we all individually do our tasks better, then we will improve together as a team."

Rubio said he was pleased with his team's performance but saw areas that need improvement.

"We are a long way from reaching our potential," Rubio said. "We need to improve our passing, and we have to have better placing of our serves. It is nice though to be able to go 3-0 on a weekend and see areas to improve on because it shows we are only going to get better as the season progresses."