Cats' four turnovers prove costly against No. 17 Utes at home

What a difference a turnover makes.

What a huge difference four turnovers make.

For the Arizona football team (1-1), it was the difference between a possible upset of a ranked opponent and a defeat in which the Wildcats could muster only two field goals.

"It hurts. It cost us the game in a lot of ways," said UA head coach Mike Stoops after the Wildcats fell 23-6 to No. 17 Utah (2-0) at Arizona Stadium. "To lose the turnover battle 4-0, you're not going to win many football games. That was disappointing for us." [Read article]

Since the moment head coach Mike Stoops stepped on the UA campus, he's made no secret that running back Mike Bell was going to be the focus of the Wildcat offense in 2004.

Stoops proved it during the Wildcats' season-opening win over Northern Arizona, when he gave Bell the ball 31 times on the ground, on top of the junior tailback's three receptions.

But what the first-year head coach might have learned in Arizona's 23-6 loss to Utah over the weekend was that Bell isn't the only capable back on the bench. [Read article]

Facing two of the nation's top teams with a less-than-healthy squad wasn't about to stop the Arizona volleyball team this weekend, as the Wildcats walked away victorious in all three matches against Nicholls State, No. 9 Pepperdine and No. 18 Louisville to win the Four Points University Wildcat Classic.

Junior outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy, sophomore outside hitter Meghan Cumpston and sophomore setter Stephanie Butkus were each named to the all-tournament team. Abernathy was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging five kills, 2.5 digs, 0.3 assists, 0.2 service aces and 0.2 blocks throughout the weekend. [Read article]

The UA men and women's cross country teams opened the 2004 season with a positive start Friday in the Dave Murray Invitational, an exhibition race at Randolph Park.

For the second straight year, the men's race became the Robert Cheseret Invitational. The UA sophomore dominated competitors from ASU, Pima Community College and Central Arizona College for the race's entirety, never falling any further than second in the pack. [Read article]