The No. 25 Wildcats (8-0) have been unstoppable so far this season. They completed a weekend of play on the road in Santa Clara, Calif., adding two more wins to their total for the season.

The road to conference season couldn’t have started better for Arizona — they have won eight games to start the season. The only season volleyball has started off stronger was in 1998 when it went 10-0 to begin the year.

The weekend matched Arizona up against two formidable opponents — Utah and Santa Clara. In the toughest weekend so far this year, Arizona had their work cut out for them on the road.

“”We know they’re both very high-level teams and again we’ve been working a lot on different things this year,”” senior defensive specialist Alanna Resch said.  “”So when we play higher-level teams, it’s crucial that we do the things we’ve been practicing.””

The Wildcats took on the University of Utah Utes on Saturday, Sept. 12, and continued their trend of sweeping matches. They have recorded six sweeps so far this season.

Junior setter Paige Weber continued her playing streak for the Wildcats while recording 33 assists in the match. Although fellow junior Whitney Dosty didn’t travel with the team, the Arizona outside hitters stepped up to the net.

Arizona steadily fed junior outside hitter Tiffany Owens who recorded her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Courtney Karst matched Owens on the attack, recording 11 kills herself.

The Utes (6-4) fell victim to the Wildcats early in the match. After Arizona took the first set 25-16, they never looked back. The Wildcats took the lead again in the second set before closing out the match in the third set.

The Wildcats’ return to a higher level of play was exactly what the Arizona coaching staff was looking for.

“”It should be good to see how we react and respond to another adverse environment against another good team on the road,”” head coach Dave Rubio said.

The weekend included a major milestone for the Wildcat volleyball head coach. Rubio recorded his 450th career win Friday, when Arizona defeated host school Santa Clara 3-0.

While winning the weekend was a nice close to Arizona’s pre-conference season, the Wildcats are also racking up tournament titles. They have won three tournaments so far this season. The Wildcats will host the Arizona Invitational, starting against Tulane on Sept. 19, before beginning Pacific 10 Conference season on Sept. 25 against USC.