Volleyball not looking past Fresno State

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore middle blocker Marisa DaLee (12) spikes the ball against Washington State Nov. 22 at McKale Center. DaLee and the rest of the Wildcats travel to Long Beach, Calif., this Thursday to face Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The postseason begins Thursday in Long Beach, Calif., as the Wildcats (21-6, 12-6 Pacific 10 Conference) face Fresno State (18-10).

"I think last year, we didn't know much about Oral Roberts," head coach David Rubio said. "Fresno State, being a west coast team, is a team we can identify with."

The NCAA selection committee surprised the Wildcats Sunday night, pairing them with Fresno State in the first round and a potential showdown with top-ranked Long Beach State (30-0), which plays Southern in the first round.

"The selection is always unpredictable," Rubio said. "Given the opportunity to play against the best teams, you need to have complete and total commitment to believe you can beat them."

Assistant coach Charita Johnson was not overly excited about the tournament, but was surprised to see the brackets.

"At the beginning of the year, I would have been more excited, but now, we expected to make the tournament," Johnson said.

"We're focused on Fresno State, and then we'll go from there. But it's nice to play the No. 1 team in the second round," she said.

Arizona is led by All-Pac-10 honorees Keisha Johnson Demps and Marisa DaLee. DaLee leads the Pac-10 with a .391 hitting percentage, while Johnson Demps leads Arizona with 371 kills and 117 blocks.

Setter Dana Burkholder was named to the All-Pac-10 Freshmen team and honorable mention all-conference. Burk-holder has 1,264 assists and 293 digs this season.

Outside hitter Jill Talbot received honorable mention All-Pac-10 Freshman accolades.

"I thought they were joking about who we're playing because I didn't see the show," DaLee said. "It can't get any tougher. Mentally, it's better for us to play Long Beach State than Stanford."

DaLee hopes the advantage of playing in the Pac-10 will have prepared the Wildcats for the postseason.

"We've been up against good competition all season in our conference, but their conference isn't so good," she said.

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