Maxx Wolfson

David Rubio just sat and stared.

With his legs crossed and his right hand fastened over his face, the UA women's volleyball coach looked like he just couldn't wait till the misery would end.

This wasn't supposed to happen ÷ especially like this.

But when the final point was scored, it wasn't his Wildcats sweeping through their own tournament; it was Pepperdine sweeping them.

The loss came hours after UA lost to Nebraska ÷ the eventual tourney champion ÷ in a four-game match.

Losing is something new to Rubio and his trio of seniors ÷ Stefani Saragosa, Shannon Torregrosa and Lisa Rutledge ÷ who have been with the program since the start. The Wildcats have only lost 10 matches in the last two seasons and already Saturday night they were looking at their third loss in 2002 ÷ and it was only the sixth game of the year.

"I think (losing) is tough on everybody," Rubio said. "My focus is not anything about now, it's about what will happen in the future."

Maybe the expectations were too high coming in.

The team is coming off a Final Four appearance in 2001, but lost its two most important players in Dana Burkholder and Jill Talbot, both All-Americans.

Plus, the Wildcats would replace their senior leadership with freshmen. However, this freshman class came into Arizona as the No. 1 class in the nation, so even more was expected of them.

KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Women's volleyball coach David Rubio talks to his team Saturday. The Wildcats lost two matches, to No. 2 Nebraska and No. 14 Pepperdine, over the weekend, bringing their record to 3 -3 . The team only lost five matches all season last year.

Include the fact that UA had entered the national spotlight after its recent success and it's clear they would be the team that every opponent would want to beat.

It was clear that the Waves wanted it more than the Wildcats did Saturday night, especially in the third and final game, when UA was embarrassed 30-14.

"It hurts when you don't do it," freshman hitter Kim Glass said. "I think we went out there with not as much energy as we usually have. We didn't want it enough."

Rubio said before the season started that he expected the beginning of the year to be rough, but he could never have imagined it would go like this.

With his team struggling with passing and serving ÷ clearly the Wildcats' two biggest weaknesses during the two-day tournament ÷ he now has to worry about what has happened to one of his most experienced and best players ÷ Torregrosa.

"I am disappointed in Shannon," Rubio said. "The thing is that Stefani (Saragosa) is hurt and she can't swing, so her minutes are limited.

"Shannon is struggling and there is no question about it. We are then counting on kids that have never done it before to do it, and that's tough. I mean Kim (Glass) is holding up her end but you take a look at the lineup and its sophomore, freshman, freshman, sophomore. Shannon is not out there and she needs to play better."

This is not a new thing, either, for Torregrosa.

Last season she was suspended for an indefinite amount of time due to what Rubio called conduct detrimental to the team.

He also went as far as saying that he was unclear with what her position on the team might be.

On Saturday against the Waves, Torregrosa played sparingly. She had only 10 total attacks and converted on two of them for a -.200 percentage.

Rubio did say after the Pepperdine game that he did not bench her to try to motivate her.

The good news for the Wildcats is that the freshmen played well in her absence.

Glass led the Wildcats with 20 kills and Bree Ladd and Jennifer Abernathy combined to add another 13 combined.

"I thought the freshmen really played well," Rubio said. "We are a team with a promising future. The question is when we get to the point where now is the future. It's just going to take some time."

The Wildcats do have time.

To Rubio it does not matter how his team plays in September, but how they play come December with the start of the NCAA tournament.

If Rubio can get Torregrosa back to how she is capable of playing, get a consistent lineup and if the freshmen continue to improve on the little things like communication and not making service errors, then Rubio should have nothing to worry about.

If not, it could be a long season.

"I think in the end of the year we are going to be a good team," he said. "I believe that in my soul."