Volleyball opens Pac-10 season away at Washington, Wash. State

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman outside hitter Jill Talbot (32), left, and sophomore middle blocker Marisa DaLee (12) go up to block a spike Saturday during the Varsity Clubs of America Classic. The Wildcats travel to Washington this weekend to play Pac-10 opponents Washington State tonight and Washington on Sunday.

A win tonight in Pullman will tie the school record for most consecutive victories, but a hostile crowd at the Beasley Coliseum will make things difficult for the Wildcats.

"They have a huge home-court advantage," sophomore middle blocker Marisa DaLee said. "They chant loudly and taunt you, and it's pretty terrible."

UA head coach David Rubio is pleased with his team after a strong start against non-conference teams.

"I think the five-game wins against Idaho and Indiana will really help our confidence," he said. "Those are really going to help our confidence in the long run quite a bit.

"The Washington road trip is the most difficult trip from a travel standpoint," he said. "They always have a great crowd, and Washington State is one of the biggest teams we face this year."

The Cougars return only one starter, senior middle blocker Jennifer Stinson, one of the Pac-10's best. Her 3.45 kills and 1.56 blocks per game were third in the conference last season.

"We have a good balance of a lot of big, tall players and a lot of smaller players who can play back row," Washington State head coach Cindy Fredrick said. "We might be a little suspect on the passing and defensive end."

Arizona will try to take advantage of WSU's inexperience at the outside hitter position. Arizona's Allison Napier, Raelene Elam, Lesley DuBois and Jill Talbot are all enjoying excellent seasons. Keisha Johnson Demps has been dominant in the middle and freshman setter Dana Burkholder is already establishing herself as one of the Pac-10's best.

"We've shown that we can pull together through adversity," Burkholder said. "It's been good mental habit training."

DaLee, averaging 2.63 kills per game and a .354 hitting percentage, has been pleasantly surprised by the team's start.

"I didn't think we'd be 8-0 going into the conference," she said. "It was a roller coaster, but we ended up winning. This is a whole new season."

Washington also has a very young team, with its roster almost exclusively made up of freshmen and sophomores. All-Pac-10 senior Leslie Tuiasosopo is one of the conference's top hitters and junior side hitter Kristina Laffling is one of the team's primary hitters.

"They'll be relying on those two," Rubio said. "They are just like we are, fielding such a young team. We play these two teams at the very end of the season and we expect to see two completely different teams by then."

Bryan Rosenbaum can be reached via e-mail at Bryan.Rosenbaum@wildcat.arizona.edu.