KEVIN KLAUS

UA head volleyball coach Dave Rubio stands on the sidelines during a match earlier this season in McKale Center. Rubio won his 300th career game Saturday against ASU, making him the sixth active coach in the Pacific 10 Conference to reach that milestone.

Monday October 8, 2001

UA head volleyball coach David Rubio joined elite company among Pacific 10 Conference coaches by earning victory No. 300 with his team's win over ASU this past weekend.

During his career, Rubio is 300-160 with a.652 career winning percentage.

"I am excited for him," said sophomore outside hitter Christina Frost of Rubio's historic victory. "It is a great thing for him. He is a great coach and he deserves it. I am glad he got his 300th win versus ASU in front of our fans at home."

Currently, Rubio is the sixth active coach in the Pac-10 to have at least 300 career victories.

UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski is the winningest coach in NCAA women's volleyball history with 907 career wins.

"(Rubio) is a great coach," Banachowski said. "He gets his players up for every game and they always come out fighting. He knows how to get everything out of his players."

When Rubio took over Arizona's volleyball program in 1992, the Wildcats were coming off a winless season in conference play.

Ten years later, Arizona is the defending Pac-10 champion.

Rubio said the accomplishment snuck up on him.

"I didn't even know about the number until last week," Rubio said. "I have many goals that I want to accomplish. My goal when I came here was to make Arizona a consistent top-5 team. The success I have had here has to be credited to administrators and the other coaches that are loyal to the program and me."

Rubio said that building up Arizona's program was a challenge, but keeping it at the top will be the real challenge for his coaching staff.

"As Mike Krzyzewski (Duke men's basketball head coach) said, 'it is tougher to maintain a top-level program than to build one up.' That is why it is so impressive what (head men's basketball coach) Lute (Olson), (softball coach) Mike Candrea and the swimming program has done here at Arizona. It is so tough to do it year in and year out, and they have been able to do that."

After the match, Rubio was not acknowledged for his 300th win, which disappointed senior outside hitter Jill Talbot.

"They didn't even announce it," Talbot said. "He will eventually get the accolades that he rightfully deserves. He is a great coach, and we would not be where we are without him."