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Marquee match with Stanford looms

The UA women's volleyball team, in the midst of a harrowing NCAA Tournament run in which they've swept both Virginia and No. 15 Texas, will try to take their miracle season one step further .

The Wildcats (21-10) are headed to Palo Alto, Calif., to face the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal and they seem to have their work cut out for them.

"Beating Texas made us believe," junior middle blocker Marisa DaLee said. "Finally beating a team ranked higher than us has been great. We're all playing relaxed now."

The Cardinal (28-2) have a 42-match winning streak at home in Maples Pavilion, the sight of Thursday night's showdown. Stanford has won 14 of their last 15 NCAA Tournament matches. This is the 19th straight year the Cardinal have made the Sweet Sixteen.

Stanford head coach Don Shaw, though, is not blowing off the Wildcats by any means.

"Arizona hammered a very good team in Texas on the road," he said in a statement given to the Stanford Sports Information Department. "Arizona is capable of playing well. When they are playing well, they can beat any team in the country."

With the way the Wildcats have been playing, Shaw's statements may hold water.

The Wildcats have won nine straight games, sweeping UTEP, UVA and Texas in the past three matches. It seems that the Wildcats are a different team since mid-November.

Since being swept by the Cardinal on Nov. 17 , the Wildcats are 5-1 against their opponents, winning 16 of a possible 19 games.

"During the season, we had some losing streaks," UA assistant coach Charita Johnson said. "After beating Texas, no one thinks we have to be flawless."

The Cardinal are as tough a team as UA will face all season.

Led by National Player of the Year candidate Kerri Walsh, the Cardinal are stocked with some of the best talent in the country. Freshman of the Year candidate Logan Tom, an outside hitter from Salt Lake City, is an Olympian and arguably the best raw talent in the nation.

"They'll be prepared, that's for sure," Johnson said. "They know we're going to be a tough match."

Surrounding Tom and Walsh is freshman outside hitter Lindsey Yamasaki, whose 15 kills against Santa Clara in the second round led the club.

At the middle blocker position, junior Jennifer Detmer and sophomore Tara Conrad combined for 27 kills in the victory over the Broncos.

Following Stanford's sweep on Nov. 13, UA head coach David Rubio thought his team struggled by striving for perfection as opposed to playing competitive volleyball. He thought his team struggled in trying to play a "perfect match", and lost focus early.

Is there any chance of that happening again on Thursday night?

Not a chance, say the Wildcats.

"We don't have to be flawless," Johnson said. "Before we had a different mindset. We though it had to be perfect."

DaLee concurred.

"We won't come out that way," DaLee said. "We're playing relaxed, just having fun. When we beat Texas, we got that mental edge."

Simply put, the Wildcat volleyball team has nothing to lose. Win, and they continue their improbable run to the NCAA Final Four in Honolulu, Hawaii.

"If we lose, we've already gone further than anyone thought we would go," DaLee said.