DAVID HARDEN

Junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa and junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge attempt to make a block against an Oregon player earlier this season in McKale Center.

Thursday October 11, 2001

The UA women's volleyball team was given Tuesday and yesterday off from practice by head coach David Rubio after the team's recent trip to the Bay area.

The Wildcats concluded their third match in four days Monday night against California.

Tuesday morning, Arizona players woke up hours before the sun came up to catch their flight back to Tucson.

"We had to wake up at 3 a.m. to make a flight that would allow all of our players to make their Tuesday classes," Rubio said. "They need time to catch up academically and recover from our road trip."

No. 7 Arizona (9-3 overall, 3-2 Pacific 10 Conference) struggled during its recent road trip, and senior setter Lauren Benward said the two-day break from the court will help the Wildcats regroup for this weekend's matches against Washington State and Washington.

"We need time to recover physically and mentally," Benward said. "We are frustrated as a team right now, and this time off will give us a fresh look for this weekend's matches."

The team will return to its normal practice schedule today.

Currently, the defending Pac-10 champion Wildcats are fifth in the conference.

The Wildcats trail No. 3 USC, No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 UCLA - all teams that have beaten UA this season.

Oregon State is the only other team in front of the Wildcats that they have beaten this season.

Arizona trails conference leaders Stanford and USC by two matches.

Even though the Wildcats are seventh in the nation, their three losses have made another conference title an uphill battle for Arizona.

"The hardest thing for us right now is not our three losses, but it is the way we have been playing," Benward said. "We lost to three top teams, but more importantly they are three Pac-10 teams. We are now just focused on how we have been playing and ways to improve."

UA will be able to gain some ground in the conference standings as Stanford travels to Los Angeles to take on USC and UCLA this weekend.

Rubio said that even though the Wildcats have lost three conference matches, the team is very close to regaining its form from last season.

"The great thing about where we are is that we are still in the conference race," Rubio said. "Even though we have struggled as a team, individual players have continued to improve. I know that we are very close to becoming a much better team. It is just a matter of putting all of the pieces together."

In UA's match with ASU Friday, Tucson native Alicia Akporiaye returned home as a member of the Sun Devils.

The freshman middle blocker graduated from Salpointe Catholic High in Tucson, where she was coached by UA assistant coach A.J. Malis.

During her senior year at Salpointe, she was recruited by Arizona, ASU, Cal and Nebraska, but she wanted to remain close to home, which narrowed her choices to Arizona and ASU.

"I talked to her early on during recruiting," Rubio said. "I decided that she really was not a great fit for our program. We really were not in a position where we needed to recruit middle blockers. I also knew that she wanted to stay close to home, and I felt that ASU was a much better fit for her."

Akporiaye said that getting away from home was one of the main reasons that she is happy she wound up at ASU rather then UA.

"I really wanted to go to UA," Akporiaye said. "When I visited ASU, I got a better feeling, and I felt that was the best place for me to go."