DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Setter Stephanie Butkus was named the Arizona Daily Wildcat's player of the week after helping the UA volleyball team win two out of there four games in the Arizona Invitational last weekend.

Stephanie Butkus came to the UA with the hopes of one day playing a major role in the future of Wildcat volleyball. With those aspirations came the challenge of filling the shoes of the graduated Laurie Gardner, the former Wildcat starting setter.

Seven games into Arizona's season, Butkus has already made an impact as the team's starting setter. This weekend at the McKale Center, she played an instrumental role in two Wildcat victories as Arizona split a four-game weekend series in the Wildcat Classic.

The freshman from Bridgeview, Ill. led the Wildcats with 45 assists and nine digs. Come on down, Stephanie: You're the Arizona Daily Wildcat Athlete of the Week!

Wildcat: Have you ever had your picture taken like that?

Butkus: I've had some interesting positions but none ever like that.

Wildcat: How does it feel to be setter for the No. 14 team in the nation?

Butkus: Pretty amazing. It's such an honor and so much fun to be able to play with people of this caliber. It's an honor for me to even step on the floor with them. It's a lot of fun.

Wildcat: Did you expect this much playing time when you first came here?

Butkus: I was told that I would have a pretty good shot for starting setter, and I got it.

Wildcat: Being a setter, do you ever get a chance to spike the ball?

Butkus: Pretty much all setting, everyday. I used to play middle when I was 12, 13.

Wildcat: How long have you been playing volleyball?

Butkus: I've been playing volleyball since the fifth grade, so since I've been 11.

Wildcat: How is the college level of play different from high school?

Butkus: Oh, it's so much different. It's so much faster, girls hit harder, jump higher. It's such a higher level, where high school is so slow.

Wildcat: Nothing you can't handle, right?

Butkus: I'm working. Doing okay and hanging in there.

Wildcat: Why did you choose UA?

Butkus: Well, the weather is awesome. I wanted to do engineering and they have a really good engineering program, and the volleyball team here is great. So why not?

Wildcat: How are your teammates treating you?

Butkus: Great. Everyone gets along real well. We are all so close in age, so that really helps out. It's fun.

Wildcat: Any first year hazing?

Butkus: Not yet.

Wildcat: How are your roommates so far?

Butkus: She's good. She's a gymnast and she comes to all the games. We get along good.

Wildcat: I understand you had a 4.1 GPA in high school. What's a ÎB' going to do for you?

Butkus: It's not a big deal. I'll live with it. I have so much on my plate right now between volleyball so many hours a day and keeping up with grades. I'll be okay with it.

Wildcat: Why are you uniform number 7?

Butkus: I've always been number 6 until I switched clubs when I was a freshman in high school. I got stuck with number 7. I've been it ever since and it kind of stuck.

Wildcat: You're from Illinois. If the Cubs and White Sox ever played each other in the World Series, who would win?

Butkus: Sox! South Side!

Wildcat: I'm sure you get this question all the time but I have to ask: any relation to Dick Butkus?

Butkus: I should just say yes, but I don't know. He could be my great-uncle. Him and my grandpa came from the same part of Lithuania but I don't know Dick Butkus, and my grandpa died so we never traced it back, so we don't know.

Wildcat: Do you get that question a lot?

Butkus: Oh yeah.

Wildcat: If you weren't playing volleyball, what sport would you play?

Butkus: I have no idea. I've been playing volleyball for such a long time, I really don't know.

Wildcat: If Bob Barker ever called you down to be a contestant on The Price Is Right, what would you do?

Butkus: Oh my god, I would scream and shout. I'd have T-shirts already made up; I'd be jumping up and down. I would die happy. Oh, that's my dream!