By Ron Parsons
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Last week, the Pacific 10 Conference placed six teams in the USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches' top 20.
This week, that number went up to seven, as previously unranked Washington (6-6) broke into the poll at No. 18.
Stanford (10-2) remained at No. 4 and UCLA and Washington State moved up to sixth and seventh, respectively. The Bruins are 8-3 and the Cougars remain undefeated at 13-0.
Arizona (10-3) stayed at No. 13 while Arizona State (8-3) moved up one notch to No. 14. Southern Cal (5-4) moved up to No. 17.
˜ ˜ ˜
Stanford, undefeated in Pac-10 play at 6-0, remained at the top of the conference standings. Washington State, at 5-0, is in second place. The Bruins are third at 4-2 and USC follows in fourth with a 3-3 conference record.
Arizona heads up a three-way tie for fifth place. The Wildcats, Arizona State and Washington all have a 2-3 Pac-10 mark. The California Bears are eighth at 2-4.
Oregon State is 1-4 and Oregon is winless in the Pac-10 at 0-5.
˜ ˜ ˜
Senior outside hitter/setter Cary Wendell of Stanford was named the Pac-10 volleyball player of the week for her efforts against the Arizona schools last weekend.
The first team All-American led the Cardinal to two straight-set sweeps of Arizona and ASU. Friday against the Wildcats, the 6-foot Wendell compiled a .522 attack percentage, hitting for 13 kills on 23 attempts.
Saturday against the Sun Devils, Wendell had a match-high 19 digs and 14 kills. For the weekend she also added 54 assists and averaged 4.5 kills per game.
A three-time All-Pac-10 selection, Wendell hit .471 over the weekend and averaged 5.17 digs per game while recording her sixth and seventh triple-doubles of 1995.
Arizona junior Barb Bell was a nominee.
˜ ˜ ˜
Last week Arizona joined a long list of opponents to fall to the Cardinal in Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford, the defending NCAA national champion, has won 21 consecutive matches in Maples Pavilion and is 41-3 at home dating to the '93 season.
˜ ˜ ˜
The Wildcats' Bell and senior setter Laura Bartsch continue to make their run on the UA record books.
Bell, a junior, hit 29 kills over the weekend to move her into third place on the Arizona career kill list. Her 1,067 kills puts her behind Terry Lauchner's 1,637 (1987-90) and Melissa McLinden's 1,239 (1982-85).
For Bartsch, becoming a part of Wildcat volleyball history is just a matter of time. As soon as this weekend, Bartsch could break the UA career assist record of 3,517 held by Heather McCormack.
Last weekend against the Bay Area schools, Bartsch recorded 67 assists to give her 3,471. UA's starting setter for four years, Bartsch needs just 47 more to break the record.