Before the Arizona volleyball team faces the rigorous competition of the Pacific 10 Conference, it will play a series of tournaments against predominantly non-conference teams.

Today and tomorrow the Wildcats will play in the first of these tournaments, the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe. The competition in the tournament will include Northern Arizona, Wright State, Northern Iowa and Arizona State. Arizona has never played Northern Iowa or Wright State. The Wildcats have played NAU only 11 times since 1977 and lead the series 9-2. UA has played rivals ASU a total of 47 times with the Sun Devils leading the series 28-19.

"It will be good to get back into competition again," Arizona head coach David Rubio said. "This tournament will be a good test to see what level the team is playing at heading into this season."

The Wildcat starting line-up consists of all returning players, despite the competition for playing spots from an excellent recruiting class.

Starting at setter will be junior Michaela Ebben, the middle blockers will be sophomore Keisha Johnson and junior Stephanie Venne, the left-side outside hitters will be senior Barb Bell and either junior Carolyn Penfield or senior Heidi Bomberger, and the right-side outside hitter will be junior Michelle Fanger.

Look for Bell to make a major contribution from the left side. She is looking to rack up the kills on her way to setting the all-time UA record.

Despite their unranked status, this tournament marks the start of what many consider to be the best chance the Wildcats have had for a national championship since they began play in 1977. The team has been preparing since early August and with only the in jury to backup middle blocker Raelene Morton, the team has a legitimate chance to win.

"The veterans are ready," Rubio said. "They're all ready to do something other than practice."

The level of competition in this tournament is not the best, but coach Rubio said that they don't look for high level competition at the beginning of the season. The NAU Lumberjacks finished last season with a record of 13-13. Head coach Kelley Silva is i n her fourth year with a record of 38-42. Wright State finished last year with a record of 23-10 and head coach Steve Opperman is in his sixth year with a career record of 99-72. The Northern Iowa Panthers are coached by Dr. Iradge Ahrabi-Fard who is retu rning for a 16th season with a career record of 399-125.

In the next two tournaments the competition will escalate. In the Wildcat Classic they will face St. Mary's, Utah State, Eastern Washington and Portland. At the end of the tournament schedule is when the real challenge comes. At the Arizona Invitational w hen they will face Cal State Northridge, San Diego State and Loyola Marymount.

"They(Northern Iowa) are a well coached team," Rubio said.

"NAU is also a well coached team. We expect to beat everyone of those teams.

Rubio's optimism could be looked on as overconfidence considering that the Panthers are in the top 25 and the Lumberjacks are an up-and-coming program. Also, whenever the Wildcats play ASU it's a dogfight.

When middle blocker Tamika Dennis was asked if she was looking forward to the tournament she said, "Yes, just because it's ASU."

The games will be played at the ASU Activity Center. Arizona's first match will be against NAU at 11 a.m., and their second match will be against Wright State 5 p.m.

On Saturday The Wildcats' only match will be against Northern Iowa at 3 p.m. The team is planning to return to Tucson on Saturday following its last match.

---

Daily Wildcat News Opinions Sports PoliceBeat Comics