By Kristen Davis
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 19, 1997

Volleyball team keeps surpassing expectations

Ryan A. Mihalyi Arizona Daily Wildcat This weekend's games against USC and UCLA mark the final home appearance for the five-senior core of the UA volleyball team. The seniors are (clockwise from top), Stephanie Venne, Michaela Ebben, Sara Johnson, Michelle Fanger, and Carrie Penfield. The Wildcats will have their best season if they win both games this weekend.

Coach Dave Rubio could not have been happier about his team at the end of spring ball.

"From the beginning of the spring they all committed themselves to being the best they can be and following through," he said.

Yet, when the preseason rankings were announced in August, Rubio was unsure the No. 20 Wildcats, one of six Pacific 10 Conference teams ranked in the top 25, warranted such a high mark.

"I think it's a little overstated until we prove ourselves," Rubio said then of the ranking.

Pac-10 coaches were skeptical as well, picking Arizona to finish sixth.

"In the beginning of the year I was not quite sure how good we'd be and how we would step up without Barb (Bell). There were a lot of questions yet to be answered," he said yesterday.

Skip forward 12 weeks and Rubio is a believer.

With Arizona's sweep of the Oregon schools last weekend, the team secured its first winning record in league play.

Arizona's current 11-5 mark in the Pac-10 matches its best-ever conference win total.

The Wildcats have a chance to break that record this weekend when Southern Cal and UCLA visit McKale Center in the final matches before the NCAA Tournament.

"It's all really rewarding," senior Michelle Fanger said. "We've worked really hard since all of us got here but our potential hasn't been reached yet."

Ninth-ranked Arizona also ends the season with the program's first chance to obtain a seed in the top eight in the tournament while it guns for another milestone - second place in the Pac-10.

Arizona has never had the chance to play for second place.

The Wildcats' best finish was a tie for fourth place in 1993. They finished fifth last season.

"Since I've been here I haven't experienced being in a position like this," Rubio said. "For everyone in the program it's exciting to have a shot at something that before was never in the picture."

The Wildcats need to defeat seventh-ranked Southern Cal Friday and notch a win over UCLA the next night to have a chance of getting a top seed.

"This certainly provides a lot of drama for this weekend, but we are in control of our own destiny," said Rubio, who was unable to hide the smile on his face.

He said two Pac-10 teams are likely to be among the top-eight seeds.

The Wildcats will be watching closely as the tournament bracket is announced Nov. 30 during a live 30-minute selection show on selected Fox Sports Net affiliates at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time.

The NCAA Selection Committee's choices, however, do not always mirror the national rankings.

"There's a little crossover but who's to say the committee says Stanford is No. 1 and Penn State is No. 2 or three?," said Rubio.

He added that for Arizona and Southern Cal's sake, the only thing that's for sure is that one of the top-eight seeds "will be predicated on which team wins Friday and takes care of business Saturday."

"We think it will be exciting and fun to come up against the challenge of playing against USC and going against that opposition," sophomore Erin Aldrich said.

In the team's last meeting the Trojans swept the Wildcats.

Arizona's senior group, the largest in UA history, will be counted on this time for providing leadership in one of the program's most significant weekends.

"The seniors have done it all this season," Rubio said. "It's been, in a sense, a storybook season and they deserve every second of our success."

Rubio became UA's second most decorated coach Sunday when he recorded his 100th win.

He continues to praise his players, however, for the success Arizona has enjoyed.

"Honestly, this team amazes me continuously. The best compliment I can give them is this group is an overachieving group. They're much better than anyone, including myself, thought they would be," said Rubio, who is still 159 wins behind Rosie Wegrich, who holds the all-time mark. "Their ability to pull off a close match comes from their determination and will to win, more so than a coaching move."

Arizona's route to a top-8 seed

If the Wildcats' want a top-8 seed at the NCAA Tournament their best bet is to get a top-eight rank in the national polls. To do so, they need to:

• defeat seventh-ranked Southern Cal Friday night and
• No. 25 UCLA on Saturday

To finish alone in second place in the Pac-10 Conference:

• Arizona needs to sweep this weekend's matches.
• Arizona State needs to beat Southern Cal Saturday in Tempe.
• Washington needs to lose one its home games against Oregon or Oregon State.

USA TODAY/AVCA volleyball top 25

Rank	Team	               Points  Record  Last Wk

1	Long Beach State (45)	1481	25-1	 1
2	Penn State (6)		1424	25-1	 2
3	Stanford (8)		1395	26-2	 3
4	Florida (1)		1334	28-1	 4
5	Wisconsin		1256	24-2	 5
6	UC Santa Barbara	1200	26-3	 6
7	USC		        1134	20-4	 7
8	BYU		        1071	23-5	 9
9	Arizona	    	        964    19-5    10
10	Texas		         952	21-4	 8
11	Nebraska		 866	21-6	11
12	Washington St.		 791	22-6	12
13	Pepperdine		 764	22-3	13
14	Hawaii		         675	23-5	14
15	Washington		 635	16-9	16
16	Maryland		 632	25-0	15
17	Texas A&M	         590	20-6	18
18	Pacific		         465	19-7	19
19	Loyola Marymount	 398	21-5	20
20	Colorado State		 390	24-4	17
21	San Diego		 370	23-3	21
22	Colorado		 285	17-7	22
23	Arkansas		 185	25-5	23
24	Ohio State		  93	20-8	25
25	UCLA		          49	12-11	24

Others receiving points: Michigan State (26), South Florida (15), Texas Tech (10), Central Florida (8), South Carolina (8), Florida State (7), Minnesota (7), Notre Dame (5), Oral Roberts (5), Illinois State (4), Miami (Ohio) (3), Clemson (2), Ball State (1), Michigan (1), Northern Illinois (1), Utah (1).