Frosh. setter having no problems settling in

Aaron Wickenden Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman setter Dana Burkholder (21) sets the ball during a game last weekend at McKale Center. Burkholder has 572 assists in the first eight games this season.

But that hasn't been the case so far with Dana Burkholder and the Arizona volleyball team.

Burkholder's 572 assists in the first eight games this season were good for third on the freshmen all-time assists list and eighth in UA history.

She's one of three Wildcats to have played in all 30 games this season, averaging 11.40 assists, 2.47 digs and 1.33 kills per game. She has a hitting percentage of .386.

"It's been pretty awesome," Burkholder said of her first month of college. "I love everything about the school and volleyball program.

"We have a lot of young people here learning fast and the coaches have given us a good base."

As Arizona travels to Washington State and Washington to open the Pacific 10 Conference season, Burkholder has already established herself as one of Arizona's premier players. It doesn't take long to understand her love of the sport after seeing her dive around the court and take charge of the team.

"Dana has never showed any signs of being a rookie, and she distributes the ball well," head coach David Rubio said. "She should have been MVP (at the VCA Classic in Tucson last weekend)."

Burkholder made the All-Tournament Teams in Arizona's two non-conference tournaments, the first in Fort Collins, Colo., and this past weekend in Tucson. Arizona won both events and entered the conference season as the Pac-10's only undefeated team.

Playing tonight against the Cougars shouldn't pose too many problems for Burkholder, even though the game is in Pullman, Wash., home of one of college volleyball's loudest crowds.

The Bakersfield, Calif., native was the starting setter and captain on the world champion United States Junior National Team this summer. Playing in front of hostile crowds in Cuernavaca, Mexico, gave her plenty of experience before she started her collegiate career.

"It was a good experience, so different than here," she said. "Their level of pride is so high and it just gave me good experience at a higher level of volleyball."

Playing for the U.S. team and Arizona have been two different experiences for her.

"It's much more technical here," she said. "The focus is different, because it's over a whole season, not a couple weeks. There's also more hands-on coaching here."

Burkholder, along with freshman outside hitter Lesley DuBois, became the third and fourth freshmen ever to start under Dave Rubio in seven seasons. Burkholder is the first freshman to start at setter since Lindsey Hahn in 1986.

"We have more confidence than we expected, but we're not overconfident," she said of the Wildcat's fast start.

Not only has it been a big change for her on the volleyball court, she also has to get used to being away from home, settling into college life and probably the most difficult, adjusting to the dorms.

"I'm living in Kaibab-Huachuca and it's real quiet there, so that's nice," she said.

While Burkholder has not yet declared a major, she plans on studying entrepreneurship. The difficult travel schedule was hard on her as she started classes, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her now.

"Missing school was hard at the beginning, but now it's OK. I hate doing homework," Burkholder said.

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