Men's volleyball completes undefeated regular season at 31-0 with win at NAU

The Arizona men's volleyball team had a successful weekend at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Flagstaff this weekend.

The event, held at Northern Arizona University, brought 17 conference teams to the two-day tournament, and will factor into the final seedings for the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association national championships to be held in Dallas from April 18-20.

The Wildcats completed their regular season at 31-0 and headed into the Mountain West Conference Championships with the A team seeded No. 1, the B team seeded No. 4 and the C team seeded No. 10.

This year, due to a NIRSA committee ruling, the Wildcats had to split their top team in two for the national tournament, and therefore, had three teams entered into the conference playoffs. This did not stop the club from taking three of the top four places at the event.

The A team placed first, winning all five of its matches without losing a game. The B team finished third, losing to the Arizona A team in the semifinals. The C team upset No. 5 Colorado to make the semifinals, losing to the eventual second-place finisher, the University of Utah.

The Wildcats have now won the conference title the past three years, ever since the inception of the Mountain West Conference.

Outside hitter Matt Olson was named MVP of the conference, an award voted on by the conference coaches and determined by play throughout the entire season and the championship tournament.

All-conference first-team selections included last year's MVP, setter Jeff Grobe, opposite Britt Burridge and middle hitter Scott Ogilvie. Second-team middle hitter Ty Hayes and third-team setter Evan Worle rounded out the Wildcat honorees.

The Arizona A team has been ranked No. 1 nationally throughout this season, continuing their four-year run as the No. 1 club team in the country. In 1999 and 2000, Arizona won the national championship tournament. Last year, they were runner-up to Park College, a NAIA school from Kansas City.

Women's lacrosse gets weekend victories over Bruins, Tritons

The Arizona women's lacrosse teams swept a pair of weekend games against California rivals UCLA and UCSD.

On Saturday, despite a strong wind, the Wildcats beat UCLA, who hadn't lost since January and was ranked No. 2 in the league.

Sophomore Camille Smith opened the scoring in the first few minutes of the game. As the game progressed, Arizona's scrappiness set the tone, as they won most of the groundballs throughout the course of the game.

Sophomore Kim Flately scored three goals, and freshman Katie Scott added another. The deciding goal was scored by sophomore Liz Palmer on a penalty shot as UA won 6-5.

Coach Beth Duschatko said the Wildcat defense won the game.

"The defense had some shaky times but, in the end, played some of the best defense I had ever seen them pull off," Duschatko said. "Also, our goalie Kim McDonough played the best she had all season."

Duschatko also commended midfielder Heather Snow for her "incredible hustle."

"She was the one to capitalize on the many balls dropped by UCLA," Duschatko said.

On Sunday, Arizona did not play as well but defeated UCSD by a score of 11-8.

"We had great moments on both offense and defense," Duschatko said. "But as we went into the second half with a 5-1 lead, you could tell that we felt a dangerous feeling."

"UCSD started the half off with four unanswered goals, which is when we finally woke up and started to play aggressively."

Arizona next faces UC Santa Barbara on the road April 20.

Women's water polo prepares for postseason

The UA women's water polo team went undefeated last weekend in Colorado in its final warmup for its conference championships.

The Wildcats won their first game 17-15 over Colorado, despite having starters Edie Gobel and Sarah Schulte out of the game due to major fouls in the third quarter. Goalie Pam Morlock stepped up her play with Schulte out, and the team was able to pull off the victory.

The next game saw the Wildcats again on top, beating Colorado School of Mines 23-5. Erica Klahs and Ashley O'Hagan led the way with three goals each, and Kathy Chew had a solid game defensively.

The team finished off the weekend with victories over Colorado State's A and B teams, 15-4 and 13-2, respectively.

With the 4-0 record last weekend, the Wildcats earned a third seed for this weekend's Southwest Conference Championships in Tucson.

They play No. 6 seed Colorado State University at 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 13 at the Student Recreation Center. The championship game is Sunday at 1 p.m., with the winner earning a bid to the national championships in Atlanta.

Women's club volleyball places second at regionals

The Arizona women's club volleyball team had its regional volleyball tournament in Flagstaff this weekend. The Wildcat A team placed second behind Colorado State, and the B team placed fifth.

Two players were also named to All-Conference team as well - Lindsey Stephaniak and Kristina Morgan.

Team president JoLyn Tatum was offered and accepted the position of commissioner for the women's division for the Mountain West Volleyball Conference, which includes teams from Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and several California schools.