Last year, the Arizona women's golf team went into the NCAA Fall Preview skeptical about their chances. They lost Lorena Ochoa, arguably the best college golfer in history to the LPGA, and had two freshmen rounding out their starting five.

Little did head coach Greg Allen know that one of his players would follow in Ochoa's footsteps, winning NCAA Freshman of the Year and Golfweek Player of the Year honors, along with two tournaments and a handful of top tens.

With her first year in the books, Erica Blasberg now has all the expectations of a champion on her shoulders, and is the preliminary Golfweek pick for Player of the Year.

"Last year, Erica was very consistent," Allen said. "She went out and had a chance to win every tournament. It's impossible to compare somebody to Lorena, but I'm really excited to coach Erica again for another year."

UA women's golf kicks its season off this week, defending its title at the NCAA Fall Preview at Auburn University, home of the 2004 Women's Golf Championships.

"This tournament has everybody," Allen said. "Duke will be there, but we believe we will go out and compete with the best."

The 8th-ranked Wildcats lost two seniors, Anne Lee and Laura Myerscough, from last year's squad, but Allen says he's very excited to see what this team is capable of.

"The intensity level (of this team) is incredible," he said. "I've never seen a team so focused."

Returning for the Wildcats are Blasberg, along with junior Mar Garcia (the younger sister of PGA star Sergio Garcia), Cassandra Kirkland, Miriam Kraschinksi, Whitney Welch and Lani Elston.

The only newcomer is transfer Alejandra Martin, an experienced golfer who advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2003 Women's Trans National.

The team has no seniors, but Allen still believes there will be competition for spots every week.

"We're young with no seniors, but we're really deep and really talented," he said. "We have seven solid players competing for the five spots, so (the players) need to bring their ÎA' game to practice everyday."

Even with the bottom of the lineup yet to be penciled in, the team has experience.

Kirkland, after getting a new set of irons over Christmas break, had a great spring season, posting a second place finish at the Dr. Thompson Rainbow Invitational.

Kraschinksi, one of only two juniors, won the Fall Preview last year and continued her impressive campaign.

Allen said he's eager to coach all players he has recruited, and just wants to start the season to see what the team will do.

"This is the first year that everybody on the team is someone I recruited," he said. "We're excited this is our team, and anxious to get out and start playing."

The Wildcats will be leaving today for Auburn, where they will tee it up Friday and conclude on Sunday.