By Ron Parsons
Arizona Daily Wildcat
The Pacific 10 Conference placed six teams in this week's Volleyball magazine top 20 poll, including two in the top 10. Stanford, at No. 4, is the Pac-10's highest ranked team, and UCLA remains at No. 9 for the third straight week. Stanford is the defending national champion.
Undefeated Washington State is 11th, and Arizona slipped a notch to No. 14. Arizona State and Washington are 16th and 20th, respectively.
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Washington State and Stanford are tied for first place in the Pac-10. Both the Cougars and the Cardinal are 4-0 in conference play. Washington State, who beat Arizona in straight sets last Friday, remains the only team unbeaten for the season at 11-0 overall.
UCLA, California and Washington are tied for third place, all at 2-2 in the conference. Arizona heads up another log jam for sixth pace, tied with ASU and Oregon State at 1-2 in the Pac-10.
Southern Cal, 1-3 in the conference, and Oregon, 0-3 in the conference, round out the conference standings.
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Arizona junior outside hitter Barb Bell went over the 1,000 mark for career kills last weekend. She now has 1,037, which places her seventh on the UA career list.
Bell is second in the conference in kill average with 4.80 kills per game. ASU's Christine Garner leads the conference, averaging 4.94 kills per game.
Senior setter Laura Bartsch continues her assault on the Arizona record books. With 3,404 career assists, she needs just 114 more to surpass Heather McCormack as the career assist leader. She is currently averaging 12.18 assists per game, good for fourth in the Pac-10.
Sophomore Stephanie Venne is fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.340) and fourth in aces per game (.40).
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Arizona's game against Stanford this Friday will be aired live on Prime Sports as the Pac-10's Women's Volleyball Match of the Week. The game, at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif., will begin at 7 p.m.
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Arizona State coach Patty Snyder-Park, with 114 career victories, needs just four more to break the school career record. ASU faces California on Friday and Stanford on Sunday.
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UCLA's Kelly Flanigan was named the Pac-10 player of the week. The 6-foot setter led the Bruins last week in matches against California and Stanford. In the two matches, Flanigan recorded 117 assists Ÿ an average of 16.71 per game Ÿ and also posted 25 digs. Against the Cardinal, she also recorded seven kills on 11 attemps for a .636 hitting average.
Arizona's Venne was a nominee.
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For the Oregon State Beavers, there's no place like home. OSU (6-6) has played 11 of its first 12 matches on the road, but returns to MacArthur Court for six of its next eight contests, beginning with the Los Angeles schools this weekend.