KEVIN KLAUS

UA senior outside hitter Jill Talbot attempts a lob over Oregon State defenders last weekend in McKale Center. The Wildcats will play a road series this weekend against No. 8 UCLA and No. 5 USC.

Friday September 28, 2001

Rubio nearing win No. 300

Southern California will be the center of the volleyball world this weekend when three Pacific 10 Conference powerhouses face off.

The No. 3 Arizona women's volleyball team takes on No. 8 UCLA tonight, and will follow up with No. 5 USC tomorrow night.

For the first time in school history, the Wildcats are ranked higher than both the Bruins and the Trojans.

For many University of Arizona players, the series marks a homecoming of sorts, as the majority of the team is from Southern California.

"It will be great because it will feel like home with our family being there," said junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa. "It gives you even more incentive to play well because you are playing for your friends and family."

UCLA owns a 41-9-1 all-time record against the Wildcats, but they will be looking for redemption after UA pulled off an upset at Pauley Pavilion last season.

USC has also dominated the Wildcats in the past, racking up a 36-12 all-time series record.

The two games will have conference and post-season implications, and head coach David Rubio said he knows his team has to play perfect volleyball if they want a successful end to the road trip.

"USC and UCLA are two of the best teams in the country," Rubio said. "Our focus is to try to play within ourselves. We need to have a balanced, diverse offensive attack to be successful."

UCLA (5-2 overall , 0-1 Pac-10) is attempting to avoid a three-game skid. The Bruins' two loses this season came at the hands of No. 1 Nebraska and the Trojans.

Arizona (7-0, 2-0) will have its hands full with UCLA senior All-American Kristee Porter and senior setter Erika Selsor, who currently leads the nation with a 14.45 assists per game average.

USC (6-0, 1-0) is led by second team All-American Jennifer Pahl and sophomore outside hitter April Ross.

The Wildcats will counter with an All-American of their own - senior setter Dana Burkholder.

To complement the play of Burkholder, junior outside hitters Lisa Rutledge and Shannon Torregrosa will be the center of UA's offense.

"We need to have a balanced attack," Rubio said. "It starts with Dana and if she does not play good then we will be in trouble, but we still need Shannon and Lisa to play well. We can't afford to have two or three players to have off nights. If we can play consistently, that will take a lot of the pressure off each player."

Besides Rutledge and Torregrosa, Arizona comes in with two of the best hitters in the country.

Currently, Saragosa is the nation's leading hitter with a .530 hitting percentage and senior outside hitter Jill Talbot adds a .476 hitting percentage, good for seventh in the nation.

Saragosa said she realizes Arizona will probably have to go through USC or UCLA to defend the Pac-10 crown, but said the team is not going to worry about its opponents.

"Going in, we're not focused on who is across the net," Saragosa said. "We need to treat every team the same. Both games will be a big challenge for us, but we just have to play our style of volleyball. We have to have the mindset that it does not matter who we play as long as we play Arizona volleyball."

Rubio has a little more motivation than a jump-start in conference play - he's in search of his 300th victory this weekend.

"He is such a great coach," senior setter Lauren Benward said. "It will be great to see him get that many wins. He helps us so much on the court and we would not be where we are today without him."

First serve is set to take place at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.