• Volleyball Notes as a .pdf

Weekly Poll: The Wildcats jumped up a spot in the lastest version of the AVCA/USA Today weekly rankings. The No. 7 ranking ties for the highest the Wildcats have ever been ranked. Both the 1982 and 89 squads also reached as high as seventh. The 1982 team finished the season ranked 11th with a 22-16 record. The 1989 team was 18-13 and ranked 13th. Volleyball Magazine bumped the Cats up to sixth, six spots better then a week ago.

On the Air: Arizona's Friday match against Oregon State can be seen on Fox Sports Net at 7:30 pm. Jim Watson will do play-by-play with Heather Cox as the analyst.It will be replayed at 3:30 am

A Look at the Cats: The seventh-ranked Cats saw their winning streak extend to a record 12 games with two 3-0 victories over the Bay Area schools. Arizona defeated 15th-ranked Stanford for the first time since 1993, snapping a Cardinal 13-game win streak over the Cats. Its win against California was Arizona's ninth straight over the Golden Bears.

A Look at the Beavers and Ducks: Oregon State (11-4, 3-2 Pac-10) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season last week as they handed fifth-ranked UCLA its first conference loss of the year in Los Angles. USC downed OSU 3-0 to prevent a weekend sweep. The Beavers rank fourth in the conference with 16.53 kills per game. Oregon State has the Pac-10's third best dig per game average (15.98) Junior Gina Schmidt leads OSU and is fourth in the Pac-10 with a 4.20 kills per game average. The opposite side hitter has 248 kills on 605 attempts in 15 matches this season. The Wildcats are 19-10 all-time against the Beavers, but a more impressive 12-4 under head coach David Rubio. UA has won the last seven meetings between the two teams dating back to 1996. Oregon (7-6, 0-5 Pac-10) returned from Los Angles 0-2 victims to UCLA and USC. The Ducks lead the conference with 1.96 service aces per game, but rank at the bottom of all the other catagories. Setter Sydney Chute averages .50 service aces per game, second in the conference. Senior Halie Mazza is ninth in the Pac-10 with a .343 hitting percentage, while Monique Tobbagi is sixth with 3.76 kills per game. Arizona holds a 23-8 all time advantage over Oregon, and are 14-2 under Rubio. The Wildcats have won the last two meetings.

Streaking: Arizona has won a school record 12 matches in-a-row. Since it's opening five-game loss to UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 1, Arizona has reeled off nine three-game wins, two four-game victories and a five-game defeat of Arizona State, to break the previous best 10 in-a-row the 1998 squad started the season with. Impressively, the Cats have been able to accomplish much of their success away from the confines of McKale Center. Six of the 12 games have been played on the road and one in a neutral site. Arizona has knocked off four nationally ranked schools during the streak (No.10 BYU, No. 15 Stanford, No. 18 Utah and No. 19 Baylor), of which, only one match went more than three games. As a team, Arizona has outscored its opponents 585-316 and is hitting .361 with 769 kills on 1537 attempts, meanwhile Wildcat opponents have been limited to a .169 attack percentage. Senior middle blocker Marisa DaLee has been impressive, hitting an outstanding .483 with a team-leading 159 kills. She has failed to hit over .300 in a match only once during the streak. Junior setter Dana Burkholder has tallied 590 assists during the winning streak, a 14.75 assist per game average.

Conference First: Arizona's 5-0 start to the conference season is the best beginning for the school ever. The 1998 squad earned its fifth victory in its sixth match. Last season's team and the 1988 team each won its fifth conference match in its seventh match.

Pac-10 Player of the Week: Allison Napier is the third Arizona player to earn the Player of the Week honor this season (see page 3). The senior from Santa Ana, Calif., led the Wildcats to two, 3-0 sweeps over 15th-ranked Stanford and California last weekend. She recorded a team-high 37 total kills (6.17 KPG) on 73 attempts with eight errors (a .397 hitting percentage) in the Wildcat wins. Against Stanford on Friday she had a match-high 16 kills, a .419 hitting percentage, four digs and four blocks. A night later, she posted a career-high tying 21 kills while hitting .381 against the Golden Bears. She chipped in with four more digs and three more blocks. It is Napier's first conference honor in her career and the 14th in school history.

Talbot's Tally: Junior Jill Talbot's .737 hitting percentage (15-1-19) against Stanford ranks as the second best single match performance for a Wildcat player ever (five attempts per game min.). Her tally trails only the .750 percentage put up by Beth Grupenhoff (1982), Tamika Denis (1994), Michelle Fanger (1997) and Marisa DaLee (1999).

Arizona in the Pac-10: The Wildcat season-long hot hitting has placed them atop the conference with an 18.10 kills per game average and second with a .358 team hitting percentage. Individually, Arizona has four players that rank in the top seven in hitting. Marisa DaLee and Stefani Saragosa rank first and third, respectively, with percentages of .493 and .416. Senior Allison Napier is fifth at .382 and junior Jill Talbot seventh (.356). DaLee is fifth in kills per game with 3.96. The Cats also top all Pac-10 teams with a 16.71 assist per game average. Setter Dana Burkholder's Pac-10 best 14.36 assist per game average would place her seventh in the team rankings. Arizona also leads the conference as a team with 3.14 blocks per game. Leading the way for the Cats is Saragosa, the sophomore ranks third with 1.23 blocks per game.

School Records: The Arizona volleyball team has already matched or bettered a number of school records this season. In Arizona's victory over Arizona State on Sept. 13, the Wildcats had 101 kills, breaking the previous school best for a five game match of 96 set in 1986 against Oklahoma. The 91 assists in that same match tied Arizona's best team effort set in 1987, again against Oklahoma. Junior Dana Burkholder had 84 of the 91 assists to take over the top spot in the record book, breaking Heather McCormack's 1991 mark of 77.

Career Records: Senior Marisa DaLee's ongoing streak of 268 games played is the third-best run in Arizona history. She trails Barb Bell's 383 and current Arizona Associate Head Coach Charita Johnson's 348. Junior Dana Burkholder has started 67 career matches, 16th-best at Arizona and tops among current team members. Her 12.97 career assist per game average is the best all-time at Arizona.

On the Mark: Arizona has been deadly accurate so far this season. UA has failed to hit over .300 as a team in just two of its 11 matches this season. Sixplayers have hit .500 or better in a match thus far, including six by senior Marisa DaLee alone (See list to the left). Arizona's team hitting percentage of .483 in its win at San Diego State, Sept. 2, set a school record for accuracy in a three game match. The Cats had 52 kills on 89 attempts while committing only nine errors. The previous mark was held by the 1994 squad who hit .461 against California.

1000 Kill Club: Senior Marisa DaLee's second kill in game two of Arizona's 3-0 win over Stanford made her just the ninth player in Arizona history with 1,000 kills.

Arizona's 1000 Kill Club
1.      Barb Bell (1993-96)             1,859
2.      Terry Lauchner (1987-90)        1,636
3.      Melissa Ferris (1991-94)        1,273
4.      Melissa McLinden (1982-85)      1,213
5.      Charita Johnson (1991-94)       1,134   
6.      Kristi Colson  (1988-91)        1,044
7.      Anita Moss (1980-83)            1,036
8.      Marisa DaLee (1997-Current)     1,019
9.      Kiyomi Morino (1984-87)         1,016
        

Previous Wildcat Pac-10 Players of the Week: Junior setter Dana Burkholder was named the Sept. 5-11 Pac-10 Player of the Week by the conference for her performance at the Wildcat Classic Sept. 8-9. The Classic MVP had an impressive tournament, posting 126 assists, 22 digs and seven block assists in the Wildcats' three match sweep of New Mexico State, No. 19 Baylor and Santa Clara. She chipped in with 22 kills, including a career-high 13 against Santa Clara, and hit an impressive .606 for the weekend. It was Burkholder's second Player of the Week honor in her Arizona career, having garnered the award last season for her efforts against the Washington schools in November.
A week later fifth-year senior Marisa DaLee garnered the award. The Phoenix, Ariz., native had 47 kills on 79 attempts with only 10 errors against Arizona State, 10th-ranked Brigham Young and 18th-ranked Utah. Her .468 hitting percentage helped Arizona go 3-0 for the week and extend its win streak to eight games. She also led UA with 17 total blocks for the week. She tallied four block solos and 13 block assists. In the Wildcats' five game victory at Arizona State on Sept. 13, she tallied 20 kills on 37 attempts with only five errors. She also collected six blocks and four digs. At 10th-ranked BYU, DaLee hit a game-high .462 with 16 kills on 26 attempts and three errors. She led both teams with six blocks. At Utah, she hit a season-high .625. She rapped home 11 kills on 16 attempts with only a single error. It was the third such award for DaLee, who also earned the honor last season and in 1998.

Quick Work: The one hour, 22 minute victory at Utah was Arizona's second-fastest win this season. Arizona needed just an hour and 10 minutes to subdue San Diego State Sept. 2.

All-Tournament Awards: Arizona's three match sweep through the Wildcat Classic Sept. 8-9, earned four Wildcat players all-tournament honors. Joining Dana Burkholder, who earned top honors as Classic MVP, were all-tournament selections Lisa Rutledge, Jill Talbot and Marisa DaLee. Rutledge knocked home 26 kills for the weekend on 54 attempts while committing just six errors (a .444 hitting percentage). Talbot averaged 2.33 kills and 2.46 digs per game for Arizona, while DaLee rapped out 29 kills on 49 swings and only four errors for a .510 hitting percentage. Burkholder and DaLee were both named to SDSU's Diggin' It 2000 All-Tournament team Sept. 1-2.

Thrice as nice: Junior setter Dana Burkholder collected her second career triple-double Sept. 2, against San Diego. Her 10 kill, 54 assist, 10 dig performance was the 19th triple-double in Arizona history, and just the fifth by a Wildcat setter. Burkholder tallied her first triple-double a season ago in Arizona's five game loss to UCLA on Oct. 11 when she had a career-high 11 digs, 70 assists and 14 digs against the Bruins.

Keep it to a Minimum: San Diego State's 14 points in three games was the fourth lowest point total for an Arizona opponent in a three game match in school history. Cal State Fullerton mustered only 10 points in a 1983 meeting with the Cats.

Player Notes

Lauren Benward * 6-0 * Jr. * S
Starts: 0 Games: 8
Ranks 10th on the Arizona career assists list with 311 ... Is second on the team with a 3.00 assists per game average ... Picked up 10 assists in three games at the Wildcat Classic ... Collected eight assists in three games at SDSU Diggin It tournament ... Set a career high in assists in 1999 with 51 against Sacramento State (9/4).

Dana Burkholder * 5-8 * Jr. * S
Starts: 13 Games: 45
Starting setter ... Leads the Pac-10 with a 14.36 assists per game average ... Broke Heather McCormack's nine-year-old school record with an 84 assist performance at Arizona State (9/13) ... Recorded second career triple-double on Sept. 2 with a 10 kill, 54 assist, 10 dig performance in Arizona's four game win over San Diego (9/2) ... Had 194 assists over a three match stretch Sept. 13-16 (84 at ASU, 65 at BYU, 45 at Utah) ... September 5-11 Pac-10 Player of the Week ... Named Wildcat Classic MVP for her 126 assist, 22 dig, 22 kill, .606 hitting percentage performance in the three match tournament ... Had a career-high 13 kills against Santa Clara (9/9) ... Garnered all-tournament honors at SDSU's Diggin' It 2000 Tournament Sept. 1-2 ... Arizona's all-time leader in assists per game, averaging 12.97 ... Third on Arizona's career assist list with 3,152 ... 1999 AVCA All-District 8 and All-Pac-10 honoree ... 1998 and '99 Junior National team member ... Has started 67 career matches, 16th all-time at Arizona and most among current team members.

Elvina Clark * 5-6 * Sr. * DS
Starts: 5 Games: 39
Primary defensive specialist ... Started back-to-back games against the Washington schools Sept. 22-23 and Bay Area schools Sept29-30 ... Has 59 digs, fourth for Arizona ... Had a career high 11 digs at Arizona State (9/13) and BYU (9/15) ... Redshirted in 1998 with a dislocated shoulder.

Marisa DaLee * 6-3 * Sr. * MB
Starts: 9 Games: 45
Starting middle blocker ... Leads the Pac-10 with a .493 hitting percentage ... Is first on team with a 3.96 kills per game average, fourth best in the Pac-10 ... Recorded 1000th career kill against Stanford (9/29) ... Hit .650 (14-1-20) against California (9/30) ... Led Arizona with 13 kills and .632 hitting percentage at Washington (9/23) ... Had a .500 hitting percentage and 11 kills at Washington State ... Hit .462 with 16 kills at BYU (9/15) ... Had 20 kills on 37 attempts and a .405 hitting percentage at Arizona State (9/13) ... Named to all-tournament team at Wildcat Classic Sept. 8-9, with a .510 hitting percentage and 29 kills in three matches ... Had a career high 24 kills while hitting .500 (24-5-38) in Arizona's four game victory over San Diego (9/2) ... Hit .586 (19-2-29) against 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara (9/1) ... Garnered all-tournament honors at SDSU's Diggin' It 2000 Tournament Sept. 1-2, with 52 kills and a .471 hitting percentage in three matches ... Has appeared in 268 consecutive games, third-most in Arizona history ... Has hit .400 or better in a match an Arizona record 54 times ... Holds top two spots on UA single-season hitting percentage list ... Is just the third Wildcat player to earn All-Pac-10 honors twice (1998 and '99) in a career.

Christina Frost * 5-10 * R-Fr. * OH
Starts: 2 Games: 17
Redshirted in 1999 ... Made first career start at BYU (9/15) ... Recorded first career kill in Arizona's three-game sweep of San Diego State ... Had a career-high two kills against New Mexico State (9/8)

Cathy Garbacz * 6-1 * Fr. * OH
2000 Redshirt

Linda McCullagh * 5-8 * So. * DS
Transferd from Oregon State where she did not particpate in volleyball ... will sit out 2000 season due to transfer rules.

Allison Napier * 6-2 * Sr. * OH
Starts: 13 Games: 40
Oct. 2 Pac-10 Player of the Week ... Ranks fifth in the Pac-10 with a .382 hitting percentage ... Tied a career-high with 21 kills against California (9/30) ... Against Stanford and Cal (9/29-30) averaged 6.17 kills per game ... Recorded a career-high .462 hitting percentage with 15 kills on 26 attempts and three errors at BYU (9/15) ... Had a team-high 12 kills at Utah (9/16) ... Had seven kills on 16 attempts and one error in UA's win over Santa Clara (9/9) ... Hit .444 (5-1-9) against No. 19 Baylor (9/8) ... Hit .409 (11-2-22) against 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara (9/1) ... 1997 honorable mention Freshman All-Pac-10 selection.

Lindsay Rogers * 6-2 * Fr. * MB
First-team East Valley and second-team all-state her senior year at Mountain Veiw High School in Phoenix.

Lisa Rutledge * 6-2 * So. * OH
Starts: 13 Games: 45
Has seven matches with double figure kills ... Had a team-high 23 kills, 15 digs and hit .352 for her third double-double of the season at Arizona State (9/13) ... Named to all-tournament team at Wildcat Classic Sept. 8-9 with three-game totals of 26 kills and a .444 hitting percentage ... Hit .667 (13-1-18) at San Diego State (9/2), tied for ninth-best on Arizona's single-match list ... Recorded double-doubles vs. San Diego (12 kills-14 digs) and UC Santa Barbara (10 kills-10 digs) ... 1999 Freshman All-Pac-10 and honorable mention All-Pac-10 honoree.

Stefani Saragosa * 6-2 * So. * MB
Starts: 6 Games: 44
Ranks third in the Pac-10 with a .416 hitting percentage and is third in blocks per game with a 1.23 average ... Finished with 10 kills on 15 attempts and two errors (.533)at Washington (9/23) ... Had 13 kills and a team-high .429 attack percentage at Arizona State (9/13) ... Led Arizona with a career-high 16 kills and had a .609 hitting percentage in the Wildcats win over New Mexico State (9/8) ... Tied a career high seven block assists against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (9/1) and No. 19 Baylor (9/8) ... hit .833 (5-0-6) in two games at San Diego State (9/2) ... 1999 honorable mention Freshman All-Pac-10 honoree.

Erin Sebbas * 6-2 * Jr. * MB
Starts: 0 Games: 15
Had three kills on five attempts with no errors (.600) against New Mexico State (9/8) ... Hit .500 (3-0-6) and recorded five blocks in one game at San Diego State ... 1999 honorable mention Academic All-Pac-10 honoree.

Jill Talbot * 6-0 * Jr. * OH
Starts: 13 Games: 45
Recorded Arizona's second-best single-match hitting percentage ever with .737 (15-1-19) against Stanford (9/29) ... Had eight kills and 10 digs at Utah (9/16) ... Chipped in with 10 kills and eight digs at BYU (9/15) ... Recorded her second double-double of the season with a 13 kill-14 dig performance at Arizona State (9/13) ... Named to Wildcat Classic all-tournament team after leading Arizona with 2.22 digs per game ... had 10 kills (.381 hitting) and nine digs against Santa Clara (9/9) ... Hit .556 (11-1-18) with seven digs vs. No. 14 UC Santa Barbara ... recorded a double-double (11 kills-11 digs) vs. San Diego ... hit .417 (6-1-12) in three-game sweep of San Diego State ... leads team with seven service aces.

Shannon Torregrosa * 6-2 * So. * OH
Starts: 0 Games: 23
Picked up her first double-double of the season with 16 kills and 10 digs at Arizona State (9/13) ... Had 25 kills in three matches at Wildcat Classic Sept. 8-9 ... Had 12 kills on 18 attempts with one error (.611) in UA's win over New Mexico State (9/8) ... Hit .727 (9-1-11) at San Diego State (9/2) ... had 10 kills vs. San Diego (9/2) ... Was just the fifth freshman to start her first career match under head coach David Rubio in 1999.

Rachel Williams * 5-5 * So. * DS
Starts: 4 Games: 38
Picked up a season-high 11 digs at Arizona State (9/13) while playing with a broken thumb ... Fifth on team with 66 digs ... has six service aces, tied for second for Arizona.