Volleyball team aims for record against Washington, Wash. State

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Freshman starting setter Dana Burkholder (21) sets the ball during an Oct. 11 match against USC at McKale Center. Burkholder had a season-high number of assists with 67 against Arizona State, and leads the Wildcats in assists with 1,142.

"We have a chance to finish off at 21-6," Rubio said. "We are really focusing on taking care of this weekend."

First stop in taking care of business, will be the match-up tonight at 7 at McKale Center between No. 19 Arizona (19-6 overall, 10-6 Pac-10) and the non-ranked Washington Huskies (7-13, 6-10).

"Both Washington and Washington State have great talent," Rubio said. "Like us, they are young and inexperienced."

The Wildcats will test the experience of the Cougars (11-11, 6-10) Sunday at 1.

"I believe Washington State will need to sweep their games this weekend to get a spot in the Pac-10 Tournament," Rubio said. "So they will be playing well, I imagine."

The Cougars will have to take on Arizona State today before they face the Wildcats.

The Wildcats haven't come up against the Cougars nor Huskies since the first weekend of the season.

"It's not going to be the same teams that we saw out there in the beginning of the season," Rubio said. "And we will have to guard against that."

The Wildcats walked away from the last matches with these teams in Washington with two victories, 3-1 against UW and a 3-0 sweep against WSU.

Arizona's strong current record is an accurate reflection of the hard work taking place on the court this season.

Freshman setter Dana Burkholder posted a season-high of 67 assists against Arizona State last weekend. And right behind her, etching her name in the record books, was senior middle blocker Keisha Johnson Demps who recorded the 16th 20/20 (kills and digs) performance in Arizona history against the Sun Devils. The Wildcats used those performances to capture a 3-2 win over ASU.

Ranked second in the Pac-10 and 14th in the nation in hitting percentage is a player for the Washington teams to watch, UA sophomore middle blocker Marisa DaLee. And also to be of service to the Wildcats' playing will be junior outside hitter Raelene Elam who is sixth on Arizona's single service aces list and second on the Pac-10 list in service aces.

The players are ready to show off their skills and are especially eager to be playing at home, they said.

"This will be my last chance to play in front of the fans at McKale," Johnson Demps said.

A farewell ceremony will be held prior to the game to honor seniors Johnson Demps and Jodi Bethke, an outside hitter, with a party to follow the game.

With only two seniors leaving the team, the Wildcats will have most of their players back next year.

"Being a young team, there's still room for inconsistency," Rubio said. "We weathered the storm at ASU, and that didn't affect our team's personality, so hopefully (we) will be on track this weekend, too."

The game whistles sound tonight at 7, not only at McKale center, but also on all TV screens tuned to Fox Sports, where the game will be televised.

Kate Longworth can be reached via e-mail at Kate.Longworth@wildcat.arizona.edu.