file photo/Arizona Daily Wildcat

Junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa attempts a kill during a match against Michigan last season in McKale Center. The Wildcats begin their season tomorrow against South Florida in the Sun-Trust Invitational.

Thursday August 30, 2001 |

First weekend will have post-season implications

The Arizona women's volleyball team travels to Gainesville, Fla. this weekend for its first game of the 2001 season in the SunTrust Invitational.

Tomorrow, the Wildcats will play a doubleheader vs. South Florida and Marshall and will conclude its play Saturday vs. No. 9 Florida.

"Starting the season in this tournament will definitely be a challenge for us," junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge said. "Playing a top-10 team like Florida will give us a chance to see where we start before conference play begins."

UA head coach David Rubio specifically accepted an invitation to this tournament in attempt to schedule the most challenging non-conference schedule in order to prepare Arizona for the postseason.

"The last couple years I have tried to schedule the most challenging schedule I can put together in order to better prepare our team to reach the Final Four and win a national championship," Rubio said. "To do this, I took a page out of (UA men's head basketball coach) Lute Olson's scheduling, because he schedules the best teams he can in his non-conference season in order to prepare his team for a national championship. It is exactly the same for us."

The No. 6 Wildcats faced Florida last season at McKale Center, and players said the Gators were disrespectful in their actions towards the Arizona team.

"As a team, we have a raw spot for Florida," junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa said. "Last year, they came in and they thought they owned the place. They walked into McKale Center and starting talking a real big game to everyone. When people talk, we get annoyed, and we put them back in place."

Last year, Florida came out and took control early by taking the first two games, but the Wildcats fought back and defeated the Gators in the fifth game to win the match.

Saragosa said there is definitely a rivalry between Arizona and Florida after their match last season, and she is excited at the possibility of beating Florida on their home court.

UA will face a similar team this weekend as the Gators return five starters and 10 letter winners.

Rubio said he realizes the caliber of Florida's program and the implications the match will have on the teams.

"A lot of seeding issues come into play by playing Florida out of the west region," Rubio said. "If they beat us, they have the upper hand for a top seed in the tournament as well as hosting rights. A lot of things are definitely on the line this early in the season."

However, UA is not focused solely on the Gators.

Even though South Florida is not ranked in the top 25, they enter as the Conference USA Champions. They are also returning three starters and nine letter winners from last year's team.

On the other hand Marshall enters its season with something to prove as they are coming off a dismal 4-27 season, which marked the first time they have missed the post-season since joining the Mid Atlantic Conference in 1997.

"As a team, our outlook this season is to treat every team the same," Saragosa said. "We cannot take any team lightly because if we do that, it could cause us to play down to their level, and we want to play great every time we step onto the floor. In order for us to be considered a great team, we have to play great all of the time because little teams can spoil the show."