By Arlie Rahn
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arizona State. Those two words alone are enough to bring out the competitive spirit in UA athletes.
The UA women's volleyball team (7-2, 3-1 in Pac-10) will continue its heated rivalry with ASU in a matchup this weekend in Tempe.
The Sun Devils (7-4, 2-2) are coming off two home losses last weekend against the two Los Angeles schools. But ASU coach Patti Snyder said there is no additional pressure this weekend.
"The pressure is always there because you always want to win," Snyder said.
And if the Wildcats hope to win, they will have to control big hitters Christine Gardener and Leanne Schuster. These two Sun Devils combined for 76 kills and five aces.
UA coach David Rubio is not too concerned about his team matching up on Saturday.
"When you play in a conference like the Pac-10, every night you are going to be facing great players," Rubio said. "You just have to key on these players and make sure you constantly know where they are on the floor."
The Wildcats, however, will counter with two hot players of their own, sophomore Barb Bell and junior Laura Bartsch. Bell hammered 42 kills and Bartsch added 115 assists in last weekend's games.
The last time these two state rivals met was in the second round of the NCAA tournament where the Wildcats won in five games.
"ASU wants revenge this year," Ferris said. "They feel that they deserved it more than us. But we will be ready for them."
The Wildcats do not want to downplay this huge rivalry, but Rubio is still taking a humble approach to this weekend's game.
"If you put more importance on one match than another, you have a lot of highs and lows," Rubio said. "We would like to think of every match as equally important."