KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior Laurie Gardner sets the ball at McKale Center earlier this season. Gardner, a transfer from Indiana, will continue to play an important role in Arizona's offense.

During the first half of the season, the Arizona volleyball team hit its low point when it lost three matches in a row to Southern California, Arizona State and Washington State.

UA's losing streak dropped it to the bottom half of the Pacific 10 Conference, a place it has not been in quite some time.

It seems as though the Wildcats have come up with a solution, as they have won five of their last six matches to move into a tie for third place in the Pac-10.

Head coach David Rubio said this season would be filled with many ups and downs due to having 11 underclassmen on the team.

"It was tough for our seniors to handle the losing early in the season," Rubio said. "As a team, we all appreciate the direction that we are going as a team."

However, the young Wildcats have matured into one cohesive unit.

This was apparent on Monday when Rubio dismissed practice at 5:30 p.m. Instead of leaving, the team held a closed-door, players-only meeting for one hour.

"Dave told us that we would probably struggle early," senior setter Laurie Gardner said. "We knew we would have our ups and downs. After killing ASU, we tapped into our potential and we saw that. I think it's only going to be better from here."

Arizona is on pace to break its single-season attendance record of 24,525 regular-season fans, which was set during the 2000-01 season.

The Wildcats have drawn 21,702 fans so far, which leaves them 2,823 short of the record.

With four home matches remaining, UA should be able to shatter the record, as it has averaged 2,713 fans during the team's first eight home matches.

The 2,713 average attendance per home match this season is nearly 1,000 more then last year's average of 1,788.

The support that Arizona has had from its fans this season has led to the Wildcats' leading the Pac-10 as well as being fourth nationally in attendance for Division I volleyball programs.

"The crowds have been great this year," Gardner said. "We feed off of their energy and their support helps us a lot."

This year's average attendance is a bit deceiving, as Arizona drew a Pac-10 record crowd of 9,141 for their game that was held prior to the men's and women's basketball teams' Midnight Madness.

Even if you remove the Midnight Madness match from the attendance statistics, Arizona is still drawing 1,795 spectators.

Rubio said he is pleased to see the loyalty the fans have shown, even with the team's slow start.

"The support has been so nice," Rubio said. "It is nice to get the backing of the community. We lost a lot early, and they still showed us support. I think they realize that we are a contending team and that we are good entertainment."