CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA sophomore Kim Glass goes up for a serve against the University of California Santa Barbara earlier in the month.

More than bragging rights will be on the line when the Arizona volleyball team goes to Arizona State tonight ÷ specifically, trying to avoid a dubious distinction from the program's rebuilding days.

The No. 22 Wildcats (6-6, 0-2 Pacific 10 Conference) will look to avoid their first 0-3 start in the Pac-10 since 1992 ÷ head coach Dave Rubio's first year ÷ against the Sun Devils (5-6, 0-2 Pac-10) at 7 p.m. in Tempe.

The Wildcats ended up 10-17 in the '92 season (4-14 in the conference) ÷ though the year before, Arizona went 0-18 in the Pac-10.

"I don't think it's any more important than the matches were last week," Rubio said. "They're all important and playing rivals is always something a little bit special. There's a little more on the line because of that, but in terms of where we're headed (and) what we need to do, this is just another opportunity for us to get a little bit better."

The match is ASU's first at home in September. The Sun Devils are coming home from a 4-4 road trip, their longest of the season.

Unlike the UA, ASU is more of a veteran team. It has six seniors, and returns six of eight starters from a team that went to the second round of the NCAA tournament last year.

First-year head coach Brad Saindon introduced a new approach for the Sun Devils. Before the season, he expected the team to take awhile to adjust to a brand of volleyball that he deemed a mix of the men's and women's game.

Saindon, who built the Colorado Buffaloes into a national power and coached for the USA men's team and Australian women's team, is having all his players jump-serve and swing-block at the net. Jump-serving is a high-risk, high-reward technique.

"They've struggled, despite the fact that they're a fairly older team," Rubio said. "I think that they're a pretty good team. I think we certainly have our work cut out for us "ASU missed 28 serves last week against Washington State.

"They jump-serve well. I think they're a good serving team, but they're erratic. They're kind of a momentum team ÷ when they're really on the run and they're doing well, they serve well," Rubio said. "If not, then they struggle."

Sun Devil senior middle blocker Mandy Stephens is fourth in the Pac-10 with a .432 hitting percentage, 12th in Division I. In ASU's last six matches, Stephens has hit .558 with 57 kills (2.71 kpg) in 95 attempts, with only four errors, and had a string of four consecutive error-free matches snapped in just her last match.

If the old adage, "you practice how you play" holds up, Arizona should do well after having what Rubio felt was a strong week of drills. Last week, he attributed Arizona's losses to Washington and Wazzu to poor practices.

"It was by far the best week of practice we've had," Rubio said. "I think it's the first time that I've been pleased with practice every day. From that standpoint, it's been really, really good. The hope is that that will then translate into us playing better."