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Revenge, pride on the line against ASU

The No. 19 Wildcats travel to Tempe this weekend looking for revenge as they take on Arizona State.

Both the Wildcats and Sun Devils are in a must-win situation, as both have lost three games in a row.

"ASU needs to beat us to get into the playoffs," UA head coach David Rubio said. "That's a huge motivator for them. Plus, the big rivalry is there. There's not much more motivation than that."

Surprisingly, both teams have lost the past three matches to the same schools-UCLA, USC and Brigham Young.

"We need to start beating teams that we're capable of beating," Rubio said. "We are a more physical team. I think we're a better team than ASU."

Rubio was quick to point out that the more physical team doesn't always win, though.

"Being physical has nothing to do with winning and losing," Rubio said. "Whoever competes the best and wins the big points will win the match."

Prior to last month's four-game loss to ASU, Sun Devils head coach Patti Snyder-Park questioned UA's team togetherness in an interview with a Phoenix newspaper.

Rubio, though, is trying to stay out of the issue.

"Different coaches have different ways of getting their teams psyched up for games," Rubio said. "I wouldn't say, at least publicly, what I think of their team. She felt like she wanted to use that."

The Sun Devils (10-8 overall, 6-5 Pacific 10) were swept by No. 6 UCLA last Thursday at the Wells Fargo Arena, as ASU's Jamie Coughlin had seven kills and 10 digs.

Friday night saw the Sun Devils lose a heart-breaking five game match to USC, but ASU's Amanda Burbridge led all scorers with 27 kills.

Monday night, the Sun Devils lost again, this time to Brigham Young in four games, as Burbridge logged her seventh double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs.

"There are three things we have to do to win the match," Rubio said. "We need to pass, serve and compete. If we do that, we will win the match."

The Wildcats (12-8, 6-5) are in the midst of their longest losing streak since 1996. Last week was especially hard for UA, as they lost to Brigham Young and UCLA in five games, wasting big leads in both matches.

History appears to be on UA's side this weekend as the Wildcats are 4-1 in matches played in Tempe in the last five meetings. The last time ASU beat UA at home was in 1996, when the Sun Devils won in five games.

In order for the Wildcats to prevail this weekend, they will need to stop Burbridge, who has recorded double-digit kill games in 16 of the team's 18 matches. She has also added seven double-doubles this season so far.

"If we get solid double blocking, we'll be set," Rubio said. "The two of them will get their kills. So will Marisa (DaLee) and Lisa (Rutledge) for us. We just need to make sure that neither of them take over the match."