After waking up at 5 a.m. to catch a flight home from Malibu, Calif., Sunday, the Arizona volleyball team had a shaky practice Monday. But by Tuesday, the Wildcats got back into their groove and prepared for this weekend in the Regency Suites Classic in Atlanta.

The Wildcats (4-2) face Kentucky (6-1) this morning, then Western Carolina (3-3) and host Georgia Tech (2-1) tomorrow.

The team fell in five matches to St. Mary’s on Aug. 25 and was swept by Pepperdine last weekend.

But for this squad, the glass is always half full.

“”We did it to ourselves,”” said middle blocker Dominique Lamb. “”I’m really confident. There are things that we needed to take care of, and we did that this week.””

Despite the two losses, the Wildcats have still been able to put up unprecedented numbers.

After libero Katie Jackels set a new school record with 37 digs in a loss against St. Mary’s, she went on to post 20 digs in the next game and 12 in the next. Her total of 57 digs through two matches represented the best mark in school history and the 69 over the three matches set another record.

Still, the numbers game isn’t over.

Lamb enters this weekend with 402 blocks, tops among active players in the Pacific 10 Conference. She is 14 stuffs away from passing Marisa DaLee for fourth all-time in Arizona history. Averaging a team-best 1.62 blocks per game, Lamb is on pace to pass DaLee this weekend.

“”I think I’m getting my job done,”” Lamb said. “”Middle blockers are supposed to get blocks, and that’s what I’m doing.””

With 34 stuffs in 21 games, Lamb leads a defense that outnumbers its opponents in blocking by more than a block per game on average.

“”Our blocking has always been an asset,”” UA head coach Dave Rubio said. “”And our serving has been pretty good. We just have to try to score more points.””

Though her role is limited, middle blocker Jacy Norton leads the Wildcats with a .384 hitting percentage. She has also registered 19 blocks in 21 games (1.38 blocks per game), second only to Lamb. She is part of the reason the Wildcats are hitting .194 as a whole, while opponents stand at .152.

“”Jacy is such a fighter,”” Rubio said. “”She has great energy out there and never quits. You really appreciate that competitive spirit. The fact that she’s only a sophomore makes it even better for us. She’s improved quite a bit from last year. For her, it’s all about getting stronger.””

Norton said that her success is just a fraction of the team’s success, and that it all stems from trust in themselves.

“”We just have to take care of the ball on our side of the net,”” she said. “”And we all know that we can do that.””

Extra serving

Sophomore outside hitter Whitney Dosty will not play this weekend, as she is still recovering from tendinitis in her left knee, Rubio said. She has not seen any game time yet this season.

“”She’s down until Monday,”” Rubio said. “”I hate to speculate on what’s going to happen, but I’d be surprised if she’ll even be able to practice on Monday. She’s been great, though. She’s been very upbeat and very enthusiastic, even off the floor.

“”The hope is that we get Whitney back (soon) and help Dominique out with a terrific senior year.””