Los Angeles-- The Arizona women's volleyball team had an opportunity last night to establish itself among elite programs in the country, but they were unsuccessful.

The 16th ranked Wildcats were outplayed and at times dominated by No. 1 Southern California 0-3 (17-30, 22-30, 26 - 30).

The problems for UA began with their passing.

Due to the Trojans tough service game, Arizona (15-10 overall, 10-7 Pacific 10 Conference) was unable to pass the ball effectively to set up its offensive attackers.

Arizona hit a season low. 091, which made it very hard to stay in the match with the Trojans (23-1, 16-1), who clinched the Pac-10 title with the win.

The Wildcats finished with 37 kills, but they committed 27 errors, a number that UA head coach David Rubio said makes defeating any team, let a lone the No 1 team in the country almost impossible.

"I thought we were really prepared for this match, Rubio said. "Once the ball went into play I thought we were going to play well. Our serve receive game was bad and that was the difference in the match."

Freshman Kim Glass has been scorching Pacific 10 Conference opponents this season, but the Trojans managed to shut her down.

Glass finished with only 3 kills on a -.185 hitting percentage.

Glass has been battling a calf strain, but said her injury didn't play a factor in her poor performance.

"I played bad tonight," Glass said. "That is all there is to it. I ma feeling fine and I have no excuses."

Besides Glass, senior Shannon Torregrosa struggled as well with a -.200 hitting percentage.

Even with Arizona poor passing and poor play from Torregrosa and Glass, Arizona still had opportunities to get back into the match.

In games two and three, Arizona stayed close, but they were never able to gain any scoring runs to separate themselves from the Trojans.

"We had our chances tonight," freshman Bre Ladd said. "We had opportunities and we just couldn't make the big plays.

The Wildcats are now faced with another tough test, as they have to prepare for No. 21 UCLA this evening.

Due to Arizona's loss, the Wildcats are tied with Washington State for third in the Pac-10.

The Cougars end their season this evening against Oregon State, who has only two conference wins this season.

A loss in tonights match with the Bruins could drop Arizona to fourth in the conference, which would lower their NCAA postseason tournament seed as well.

"Losing is not an option against UCLA," Ladd said. "There is to much on the line and we know what we have to do.

However, Rubio is not putting any pressure on the Wildcats, as he knows that the postseason is what really matters.

"All I am worried about is preparing us for the postseason," Rubio said. "We are going to have to play great teams in the tournament and I want us to be prepared. This match has conference implications but I am more concerned with preparing for the postseason.