Johnson capitalizes on coach's last minute position change

Arizona Daily Wildcat Chris Zuckerman UA junior Keisha Johnson swats a spike against Arizona State earlier this season. Johnson made the most of her weekend starts, recording 29 kills.

It was during warm ups and somewhat of a surprise.

"I didn't think about it too much then because we were in hitting (practice). It's probably better he didn't tell me before because I would have thought about it more," Johnson said.

The UA coaching staff felt she matched up well with the Cardinal. She played four rotations - three in the front row and served in the first back row position. Senior Stephanie Venne came in for her to play the two remaining back row slots during the rotations.

"Really, we had the best of both worlds," Rubio said. "We had Keisha's strength in the front row and Stephanie helped with ball control in the back."

The move paid off. Johnson, who is from Antioch, Calif., was playing in front of a home crowd. With her mother and father watching, she combined for 29 kills, five aces and six blocks in the Wildcats' split of the northern California schools, including eight kills and no errors in 17 attacks Saturday against the Golden Bears.

"Last weekend was the best weekend she's had since she's been here," Rubio said. "She stepped up and played at a high level and was very consistent. She took advantage of the opportunity presented to her, which is something all of the players need to do."

The kicker was that it was Johnson's first start of the season. She started nine matches over her last two seasons.

"We wanted to give her the opportunity to get in and rely on her as a starter. It's always tougher to come off the bench and find a rhythm," Rubio said.

Johnson has had little trouble coming off the bench and being counted on to sideout for the team. Prior to her starts this weekend, she was second among Arizona's middle blockers, averaging 1.73 kills and 0.80 blocks per game.

Erin Aldrich, a regular starter in the other middle position, leads both categories with a 2.50 kills per game and 1.14 blocks per game average on the season.

"Freshman year I may have felt pressure, but (now) I'm just ready at any time," said Johnson, who originally came to UA on a basketball scholarship.

She played hoops her freshman year, averaging 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game and redshirted the volleyball season. After her first year, she decided to dedicate all of her time to volleyball because she wasn't happy dividing her time between the two programs.

It's important for her to keep that mindset of being ready whenever she's called upon because Arizona (12-3 overall, 4-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) has an overflow of talent in the middle with redshirt freshman Marisa DaLee rounding out the group.

"Keisha's very physical and a very good blocker. She gives us another big stick on the floor, as do all our other middles," Rubio said.

Rubio can never say for sure who will start and which players will see the most action on the court.

Before Tuesday's practice, he said Aldrich and Johnson would start in Arizona's matches against the Oregon schools at McKale Center this weekend because of the success the rotations gave UA last weekend. He added that the lineup may change as the matches progress.

"The way I think now, everything counts in every drill and in scrimmages," Johnson said.

"Every (middle) feels they can do the job no matter who is playing. That's why it's so important for me to get better every day in practice so there is no question if I'm better in this game or against this opponent."

USA TODAY/AVCA women's volleyball top 25

Rank    Team	       Points  Record  Last Week

1 	Penn State (60)	  1500	17-0	 1
2	Long Beach State  1430	14-1	 2
3	Florida	          1369	17-1	 3
4	Stanford	  1341	16-2	 4
5	USC	          1226	13-2	 6
6	BYU	          1179	14-4	 7
7	UC Santa Barbara  1098	16-2	 9
8	Wisconsin	  1043	14-2	 10
9	Nebraska	  962	13-4	 5
10	Washington State  922	17-2	 8
11	Texas	          893	11-3	 13
12	Texas A&M         803	13-3	 14
13	Pacific	          791	11-4	 12
14	Pepperdine	  749	14-1	 11
15     Arizona	      693  12-3	   15
16	Hawaii	          562	13-4	 17
17	Maryland	  517	15-0	 18
18	Colorado State	  396	15-3	 20
19	Colorado	  387	9-4	 22
20	Loyola Marymount  370	13-4	 16
21	Washington	  301	10-6	 24
22	UCLA	          282	9-5  	 21
23	San Diego	  183	15-2	 N/R
24	Arkansas	  147	14-5	 23
25	Michigan State    145	13-6	 19 

Others receiving points: Michigan (45), Minnesota (38), South Carolina (15), Illinois (13), Ohio State (10), Oklahoma (7), Central Florida (6), Ball State (5), Kansas State (5), Arizona State (4), Florida State (2), Northern Illinois (2), Butler (1), Notre Dame (1).