Evan Caravelli/Arizona Daily Wildcat Jennifer Abernathy and the rest of the No. 18 Wildcats are selected to come in fourth in the Pacific-10 conference. The team is led by a trio of preseason All-American candidates: Abnerathy, Kim Glass and Bre Ladd.

The Arizona volleyball team enters the 2005 season ranked No. 17 in the College Sports Television/American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll.

The squad is also predicted to finish fourth in the Pacific 10 Conference, behind defending Pac-10 champion Washington, defending national champion Stanford and Southern California.

Despite holding a national ranking, senior outside hitter Jennifer Abernathy said Friday the team embraces an underdog mentality in the face of skeptical critics.

"We're pretty up and down at times so we pretty much have to show them that we're great," she said.

Fellow senior and outside hitter Bre Ladd echoed her teammate's sentiments Monday.

"I never think it's bad to be an underdog," Ladd said. "I think it's harder to start at No.1 and stay at No. 1."

She said that she is not surprised of Arizona's national ranking - the same the team earned before last season - because of the Wildcats' postseason performance in 2005, when they lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to San Diego.

"That's all based off of last year and we were knocked out in the second round in the tournament, so I wasn't necessarily expecting a top-five ranking," she said. "I think that (with) the talent that we have, I think it's going to be a nice surprise for us to show everybody what we have going on here."

Injuries

Except for some minor injuries, UA head coach Dave Rubio said Monday that the team is fairly healthy to begin the season.

"So far, knock on wood, we're in a pretty good, healthy state, both emotionally and physically," he said.

Senior outside hitter and two-time All-American Kim Glass underwent offseason surgery on her right shoulder. Glass said Monday that although she has not completely recovered, it continues to improve daily.

"It feels OK, it hurts occasionally," she said. "We're just working on keeping my strength. What is most important is stability. Besides that, I feel pretty strong. (I) just really want to make sure it's all the way back to normal because our team is so good this year. I want to contribute to the team."

"I think (Kim Glass) about 80 to 90 with it (her right, attacking shoulder)," Rubio said. "I don't think she's (at) full (strength) yet, but I think by the time the season starts in a couple weeks, I think she'll be pretty close."

In addition to Glass' recovery, Abernathy is suffering from shin splints, a problem that plagued her for much of last season, while Ladd is hampered by a minor foot injury.

"Jennifer is still battling her shin splints and is in a lot of pain," Rubio said. "Bre has a little bit of a tweak in her foot so she's not jumping full all the time."