KEVIN KLAUSArizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore Rochelle Ruen and the Wildcats expect a packed house before Midnight Madness as they take on No. 4 Stanford.

Before the high-flying Wildcat men's and women's basketball teams take to the court at midnight, there is some unfinished business between the No. 20 Arizona volleyball team and defending nation champion and fourth-ranked Stanford.

The Cardinal swept the Wildcats last season, but Arizona has history on its side, as it is 3-0 when playing as the prelude to "Midnight Madness."

"ÎMidnight Madness' has always treated us well," head coach David Rubio said. "It will be a great opportunity for us to showcase our team to the public. I think both teams will be energized to play in front of a big crowd and all anyone can hope for is that it is a great match."

During UA's three other matches during "Midnight Madness," the average attendance was 5,312 ÷ well above the team's usual showing.

"It will be so much fun to play in front of that many people," freshman hitter Kim Glass said.

Even though Stanford swept Arizona last season, UA took the defending national champions to five games in both matches. Both teams represented the Pacific 10 Conference in the NCAA Final Four, and tonight Arizona will look to regain some of its glory from last season.

Arizona (7-6 overall, 2-3 Pac-10) looks to even its conference record at 3-3 and jump back in the thick of things in the Pac-10, but Stanford (13-2, 4-1) and the reigning player of the year, Logan Tom, will give the Wildcats all they can handle on their home floor.

Tom, who rejoined the Cardinal two weeks ago after helping the U.S. National Team win a silver medal at the World Championships, has continued her dominance, as she averages 4.57 kills per game.

Arizona's defense will also have to contain last year's freshman player of the year, Ogonna Nnamani, who leads Stanford with 203 kills on the year.

To counter Stanford's offensive attack, which leads the Pac-10 with a .318 hitting percentage, UA will continue to look to Glass, who leads the team with 220 kills on the season.

However, Rubio said Glass' production is important, but that UA has to begin to have increased production out of senior Shannon Torregrosa, and freshmen Bre Ladd and Jennifer Abernathy to take some of the weight off of Glass's shoulders.

The major issue facing the Wildcats is that Stanford's defense has held opposing opponents to a conference-low .151 hitting percentage and they lead the conference with an average of 3.64 blocks per game.

"It is really important for us to be balanced offensively," Rubio said. "We have been working hard in practice to get everyone more involved. I think we will continue to be dominant on the left side with Lisa and Kim, but as the season progresses I think we will become more balanced."

Besides Stanford, Arizona has to face a much-improved California team tomorrow night.

Cal (11-3, 2-3) is coming off a tough loss to top-ranked Southern California, in which the Golden Bears took the Pac-10 leaders to five games.

The Golden Bears have already won more games than they did last season and Rubio said they are one of the most improved teams in the Pac-10.

"Cal is so much better then they were last year," Rubio said. "They almost beat the best team in the country. That says a lot about their program. It will be another great match (tomorrow)."

With the Golden Bears and Wildcats tied in Pac-10 play going into this weekend, Arizona hopes that it can extend its 12-match win streak against Cal and jump above them in the conference standings.

It all starts at 8 p.m. in McKale Center.

Volleyball Notes: Former setter and current assistant coach Dana Burkholder was invited to play for the U.S. National Volleyball Team yesterday. She is the first Wildcat player to make the national team roster since Carolyn Penfield in 1998.

Burkholder, who holds nearly every UA assist record, received her invitation to become a team member via E-mail from national team head coach Toshi Yoshida.

She will continue as an assistant with Arizona until she leaves for Colorado Springs, Colo., in late January 2003.