Monday October 22, 2001

The UA women's volleyball team traveled to Oregon this past weekend looking to accomplish two things - remain in the Pacific 10 Conference race and gain momentum heading into its pivotal conference matches with No. 3 USC and No. 5 UCLA.

The Wildcats accomplished both.

Seventh-ranked UA (13-3 overall, 8-3 Pac-10) manhandled Oregon and Oregon State with a 3-0 sweep in both matches. The wins helped UA head coach David Rubio top the 100-win mark in Pac-10 play.

Arizona's victory over the Beavers (13-5, 6-3 Pac-10) puts them in fourth place in the Pac-10.

More importantly, Rubio said, is that Arizona played like the No. 7 team in the nation for the first time all season.

"This was a good weekend for us," Rubio said. "This is the best that we have executed in back-to-back matches this season. We are playing with a better frame of minds and our execution is result of that."

The Wildcat offense has been inconsistent this season, leading to numerous unforced attack errors.

Rubio said the Wildcats' ability to minimize their attack errors led to the success UA had against the Ducks and Beavers.

Rubio said junior outside hitter Shannon Torregrosa - who has battled inconsistency all season - showed the capabilities that she has and the offensive abilities that she brings to the Wildcats this weekend.

"Shannon had an outstanding weekend," Rubio said. "She kept her errors to a minimum and that is outstanding. It was definitely a wonderful step in the right direction for Shannon."

Torregrosa finished the weekend with 22 kills compared to only eight attack errors.

"We did all of the little things," senior setter Dana Burkholder said. "Shannon was a good example of that. She just went out and played the game and did not worry about anything. That is the way we have to come out and play in every match."

Rubio said the difference in UA's play this weekend was the team's balanced offensive attack. Junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge led the Wildcats with 27 kills this weekend. Senior outside hitter Jill Talbot contributed 21 kills and junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa added 14.

Besides winning both matches, Rubio said that Burkholder and Saragosa are beginning to find their rhythm offensively.

"Stefani and Dana found their rhythm this weekend," he said. "Stefani is continuing to be a bigger part of our offense. When Dana and her are on the same page it makes our offense that much better."

Burkholder said the play of Saragosa is crucial if the Wildcats want to compete with the nation's elite volleyball programs.

"Stefani and I really connected this weekend," Burkholder said. "As a team we have to click on all cylinders to be our best. When I set the ball to Stefani she needs to be able to put the ball down and she did a great job of that this weekend.

The Wildcats are currently riding a five-match winning streak heading into next weekend's matches with the Trojans and Bruins.

"We are playing really well right now," Rubio said. "We have a lot of confidence going into our matches against USC and UCLA. We realize that they are two of the best programs in the country, but we know that if we execute like we did this weekend, that we can compete with any team in the country."