COURTESY USC ATHLETICS Southern California senior April Ross listens as head coach Mick Haley discusses strategy earlier this season. Arizona visits the No. 1 Trojans tonight.

If Arizona volleyball's string of four matches against top-10 teams wasn't hard enough, facing Southern California may be as tough as trying to pull the wooden horse trick again.

Saturday, Arizona (6-9, 0-5 Pacific 10 Conference) concludes its Los Angeles road trip at No. 1 USC (14-0, 5-0), which has had every first-place vote in the polls since the beginning of the season. Not only are the Trojans undefeated, they have lost just one game all year.

But Trojans head coach Mick Haley believes there is room for improvement.

"I think people are just looking at the scores and not how we are playing," Haley said. "I really think we can do better."

The defending NCAA and Pac-10 champions have won 26 matches in a row and 74 of their last 77 games, including 43 of the last 44.

Southern California has also won 25 consecutive road matches, dating back to the 2001 season when it lost 3-1 to Stanford.

UA head coach Dave Rubio said a few teams have had perfect regular seasons. In the mid-1990s, the UCLA Bruins' unblemished season was ruined with a loss in the national championship to Stanford.

Rubio was not sure of the least games lost in a season.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, USC may be on the verge of breaking that record," he said.

USC has been so dominant that three of the ranked teams the Trojans have played have kept their spot in the rankings ÷ and three actually moved up after losing to them.

The Women of Troy have played arguably the nation's toughest schedule, including matches against six teams ranked in the top 15 at the time the matches were played. When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Where:: Lion Center, Los Angeles Radio:: Listen to the game online at www.usctrojans.com

"I just know that they're obviously very talented ÷ the best team in the country," Rubio said. "I think everyone is playing catch-up to how good they are. So we'll see."

The Trojans are leading the Pac-10 in hitting percentage (.344), opponent hitting percentage (.108), kills (17.58) and assists per game (16.14). They are fourth in the country in assists and hitting percentage, fifth in kills and sixth in blocks.

Despite returning all their starters plus the libero ÷ 10 letterwinners in all ÷ Haley didn't know what to expect this season.

"It's kind of hard to know what to expect," Haley said. "I didn't really have any expectations."

In addition to the 2002 title, Haley has won two national championships at Texas. He posted a record of 60-5 in his three seasons with the Longhorns.

Two of those losses came at the hands of Arizona in 2001, including the Elite 8 match at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, where the Wildcats rallied from a 12-9 deficit in the fifth game. Arizona is also one of two teams (along with Stanford) to beat the Trojans in Los Angeles in the last three years.

"The two goals were to try to come back and win the conference and make it to the Final Four," Haley said. "I always felt if you make it to the Final Four, you have a chance to win the national championship."

Haley took over the Southern California job in 2000 ÷ a year after officially accepting the position. He was busy coaching the US women's national team to an unexpected fourth-place finish in the Olympics.

"I think he walked into a very good situation," Rubio said. "He came in and every single starter, except one, was recruited before he got there, so he certainly inherited a gold mine, and obviously he's done a very good job with the talent he's had. He's obviously a very experienced coach, coaching at different levels, and has put together quite a team, albeit one that he inherited."

Haley said he could only imagine how opponents are gunning for the Women of Troy. So far, USC has held its own against the underdogs, including beating Centenary in just one hour, and holding them to six points in the opening game of that match.

"I expect (the season) only to get tougher. We have to always keep pushing," Haley said. "I'm sure we can't stand pat."

Unlike in most years when at least four or five teams share the top spot over the course of the season, Haley said the Trojans, who started the year with the top ranking and are looking to hold the top spot wire-to-wire, don't have the opportunity to go after other teams in the No. 1 slot.

"I'm sure nobody's going to feel sorry for us, though," he said.