FILE PHOTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore volleyball players Kim Glass and Angie Ayers go for the block during a home meet last season in McKale Center. Glass was named AVCA national freshman of the year for her efforts.

They don't call the Pacific-10 the Conference of Champions for nothing ÷ a point driven home in volleyball like a monstrous spike.

In the 2003 USA Today/AVCA preseason Coaches Poll, there are five Pac-10 teams in the top 25: No. 1 USC, No. 4 Stanford, No. 10 Arizona, No. 13 UCLA, No. 19 Washington State and No. 24 Cal. Additionally, Washington and ASU are just outside the poll receiving votes.

The Pac-10 figures to have a big season again this year. The conference returns 10 players off the 14-member All-Pac-10 team, which includes Wildcats' outside hitter and AVCA National Freshman of the Year outside hitter Kim Glass along with three first team AVCA All-Americans.

UA head coach Dave Rubio does think that after the Women of Troy and the Cardinal, the conference is wide open.

"The Pac-10 I think is going to be the most difficult conference, as it always is, in the country, but this year I think it is going to be more competitive than it has been," he said. "USC, the defending national champions, has already shown they're the best in the country. I think that the conference is really up for grabs after that. Stanford is a really good team, then there is UCLA, Washington then Cal, probably four or five other teams that could finish third or fourth."

USC is clearly the class of the Pac-10 and nation. The defending national champions return all six starters plus the libero, and are fresh off sweeping No. 2 Hawaii and No. 3 Florida in the State Farm Women's Volleyball Classic.

Thanks in no small part to the strength of the Pac-10, the Wildcats will play 23 of their 30 matches against opponents who appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament.

"It is ridiculous," said sophomore middle blocker Bre Ladd about how good the Pac-10 is. "The competition is stiff every weekend. We know that there's no easy weekend for us."

Last year, the Pac-10 beat up on opponents from weaker conferences, tallying a 107-24 record (an .817 winning percentage) against non-conference foes.

During the conference season, the Wildcats also travel to Hawaii to face the Rainbow Warriors after hosting the Oregon schools in mid October, and travel to Santa Barbara to play the No. 9 Gauchos before the NCAA tournament.

The only thing that comes close to a break during the conference season is when the UA plays ASU, but only because it is only one match, Ladd said.

"Maybe the easiest weekend might be the ASU weekend because we only have one game," she said. "That's probably the easiest weekend because it is one game and not focusing on two games and two different teams, two scouting reports.

"The competition is so stiff that there is no weekend that we can feel relaxed, like we're going to roll over this team because it is unrealistic to think that way, because it was an all Pac-10 NCAA championship and this is definitely one of the premier conferences in the country."

In the preseason Pac-10 poll, the coaches, who have correctly picked the champion in eight of the previous 14 polls, chose the Trojans to repeat as champions. USC received nine of 10 first place votes ÷ and coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.

Following the Trojans is Stanford, the UA, which tied with UCLA for third, Cal, Washington, ASU, Washington State, Oregon State and Oregon.

"I am definitely looking forward to the USC game, Stanford game, (and) Oregon," Glass said.

In the NCAA tournament, eight Pac-10 teams were invited, and four advanced to the Sweet 16. The national championship was an all Pac-10 affair, with USC battling 2001 national champ Stanford.

"It's shown in the past that we've played someone in the Pac-10 in the tournament, so that experience of playing them already and knowing a little more about that team obviously has it's bonus," Ladd said.

After the UA beat Minnesota in the Sweet 16, improving their record to 20-11, the Pac-10 boasted a conference-best seven teams with 20-win seasons. The Wildcats were then eliminated by conference rival Stanford in the Elite 8.

Despite the strength of the conference, Arizona finished tied for third last year, going 11-7, the seventh time in a row the Wildcats had double digit wins.

The Pac-10's success is not limited to volleyball. The conference has led the nation in NCAA championships in 38 of the last 43 years, finishing second the other five. The Pac-10 has also won 323 titles, compared to 193 for the Big Ten, the second closest conference.

Last year in the NACDA Director's Cup ranking of athletic programs, the Conference of Champions had four top 10 teams and seven in the top 20. Stanford was No. 1 and the UA was No. 16.

Last year the conference had the most team titles with eight and most women's titles with five. The second place Southeastern Conference had seven, four female.