In the Arizona women's volleyball team's offensive system, the left-side hitters get all the attention. They get to take the most swings and they rack up the big numbers, but it is the right-side hitter that holds the team together. That hitter is Michelle Fanger.

"I love the right side," Fanger said. "I played every spot in high school and on the right side you can do everything. I love the whole package."

Fanger was one of the members of the 1993 recruiting class, which included Stephanie Venne, Tamika Dennis, Heidi Bomberger and Barb Bell. This class makes up the majority of starters on the team as well as the key substitutes. Arizona was not alone in its hopes to add Fanger to its roster - schools such as Santa Clara and No. 7 Washington State were, too. But Fanger was confident in her choice.

"We are better than they are," Fanger said. "The coaching is much better here."

Fanger, who was born and raised in San Jose, Calif., comes from an athletic family. Her father was a collegiate swimmer and her sister played basketball at the University of Redlands. In high school, Fanger was a four-time letterwinner in volleyball and basketball and was captain of both teams her senior year.

"My family played basketball and it was always hard to get them to play volleyball with me," Fanger said. "Since my freshman year in high school, I knew that I wanted to play volleyball in college and get a scholarship."

Fanger redshirted her freshman year at Arizona and took the floor for the first time in 1994, splitting time with Heather Flachsbarth. In her first start she had six kills, seven digs, two blocks and two aces against eventual NCAA champion Stanford. As her freshman year progressed, she kept producing, and by the end of the year she had the right-side spot clinched for the 1995 season.

Along with outstanding play on the court, she recieved the Mary P. Roby Academic Achievement Award for her work in the classroom. In 1995 she started 25 of 28 matches and was second among all returning players with 61 assists and fourth in kills with 148.

"The thing with Michelle is that she has been through the trenches with us," Arizona head coach Dave Rubio said. "She's been a part-time starter for two years and is a full-time starter now. She provides quite a bit of offense for us as a right-side player because she's so dynamic."

This year Fanger has started right where she left off. In the Arizona State Invitational, she was second on the team with 21 kills. She had 10 kills against Wright State. In addition, she recorded seven blocks, 4 assists and 27 digs over the tournament's three matches - all that after pulling a stomach muscle in the first match of the tournament.

In preparation for this weekend's Doubletree Wildcat Classic, Rubio had her sit out during hitting drills and intersquad games.

"I'm fine. My stomach is no big deal," Fanger said. "It's not anything that will stop me from playing."

Rubio was not so optimistic.

"Michelle Fanger is a big question mark," Rubio said. "We really don't have an answer for Michelle. We're going to see if she can go 100 percent. She's been working at 50 percent now so she doesn't re-strain that stomach muscle."

For Fanger it wouldn't be the end of the world if she couldn't play volleyball. She will graduate with a degree in speech and hearing sciences and hopes to start graduate school next year while playing volleyball in her last year of eligibility. The only catch is that she needs to get accepted to Arizona's graduate program in speech and hearing sciences.

"I want to be a speech pathologist and work with children," Fanger said.

In a sport where chemistry is just as important as talent, Fanger appreciates the other players on the team. On the right-side of the Arizona court, where glory is elusive, friendship can be what gets a player through.

"I think they're great," Fanger said. "I enjoy each and every one of them."

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