No. 10 V-Ball team achieves highest ranking in 8 seasons

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Staff Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 12, 1997

No. 10 V-Ball team achieves highest ranking in 8 seasons

Despite being swept by third-ranked Stanford Sunday, the Wildcat volleyball team moved up two spots to No. 10 in the latest USA Today/AVCA poll.

Arizona (17-5 overall, 9-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference) has reached the No. 10 spot for the first time in eight years. Previously, the Wildcats were tied for 10th on Nov. 14, 1989.

The team's highest mark in UA history occurred that same season when the Wildcats were the sixth-best team in the country.

Assistant coach Steve Carlat said a team has to be careful when interpreting polls.

"I've been around the game 17 years in Division I and with all honesty, for every team there is a political element that is influential," said Carlat earlier this season. "In some ways you have to be proud to be in the top 20 but you have to take it in the right perspective. The only thing that counts is who's standing at the end of the season."

The Wildcats have a pair of road matches at the Oregon schools this weekend and conclude their regular season the following weekend when they host seventh-ranked Southern Cal and No. 24 UCLA.

They are on pace to surpass their best-ever Pac-10 season of 11-7, which was set in 1993, needing a 3-1 finish this year to do so.

The team's current conference record of 9-5 is its best ever, surpassing its 8-6 mark at this point in the season in 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1993.

The Wildcat's are in good shape to gun for a second place finish in the conference despite their fourth place mark. The Washington schools still have to face Stanford for the second time. And they have to do it in Palo Alto, Calif., where the Cardinal has won 33 straight Pac-10 matches.

Pacific 10 Conference Volleyball Standings

*Stanford 15-0
USC 11-4
Washington 10-4
Washington St. 9-5
Arizona 9-5
UCLA 7-8
Oregon State 5-9
Arizona State 3-11
California 3-12
Oregon 0-14

* clinched the Pac-10 title

Arizona has reached the No. 10 spot for the first time in eight years. Previously, the Wildcats were tied for 10th Nov. 14, 1989.

USA TODAY/AVCA women's volleyball top 25

Rank	Team		Points	Record	Last Week

1	Long Beach State (47)	1485	23-1	1
2	Penn State (5)		1421	24-1	2
3	Stanford (7)		1390	24-2	3
4	Florida (1)		1336	26-1	4
5	Wisconsin		1253	22-2	5
6	UC Santa Barbara	1179	24-3	6
7	USC			1132	19-4	7
8	Texas			1095	20-3	8
9	BYU			1027	22-5	9
10	Arizona		       888     17-5    12
11	Nebraska		823	18-6	13
12	Washington State	787	21-5	10
13	Pepperdine		722	20-3	11
14	Hawaii			681	18-5	15
15	Maryland		641	23-0	16
16	Washington		607	15-8	19
17	Colorado State		588	23-3	17
18	Texas A&M 		508	18-6	14
19	Pacific			451	17-7	18
20	Loyola Marymount	392	19-5	20
21	San Diego		354	21-3	21
22	Colorado		292	14-7	22
23	Arkansas		179	23-5	23
24	UCLA			60	12-10	25
25	Ohio State		55	19-7	N/R

Others receiving points: Michigan State (49), South Carolina (27), Texas Tech (16), Central Florida (11), Michigan (11), Ball State (8), Northern Illinois (5), Notre Dame (5), Sacramento State (4), South Florida (4), Eastern Washington (3), Illinois State (2), Florida State (1), Fresno State (1), Kansas State (1), Miami (OH) (1), Minnesota (1), Oklahoma (1), Oral Roberts (1), Utah (1).