Head coach Dave Rubio knows that he might have something special in this year’s Arizona volleyball team, and he is doing his best to make sure that the Wildcats are battle-tested come conference play — and ultimately the NCAA tournament.
“”This year, we really loaded up — we knew we were going to be good,”” said Rubio, who is entering his 19th season at Arizona. “”We’ve got a lot of teams that are going to provide us plenty of competition.””
If competition is what Rubio wants, it’s what he’ll get in the 2010 campaign. Of the 12 non-conference teams Arizona plays in the rapidly approaching season, eight had winning records in 2009. Of those eight, six won 20 or more games.
If you think that’s a tall task, that stretch doesn’t even include Pac-10 schools, six of which are ranked in the top 25 of the AVCA Division I coach’s poll.
Some might call that daunting, but senior outside hitter Whitney Dosty knows that when it comes to the amount of success the Wildcats will have this year, the ball is in their court.
“”We just need to go out there and play like we’ve been training; other than that, you can’t worry about what the other team is doing so much as ourselves,”” Dosty said. “”I think if we just go out there and play hard, we’ll be okay.””
‘Cats not focused on preseason ranking
The Arizona volleyball team enters the 2010 season ranked 18th in the nation, according to the AVCA coach’s poll, but the Wildcats don’t feel any added pressure or expectations.
“”The thing about rankings for me, is that if you’re in the rankings it’s nice because people like to talk about it,”” said head coach Dave Rubio. “”It gives your program some notoriety, but I don’t put too much stock into them so early in the year… you just need to take them with a grain of salt and try to get ready for the first weekend.””
Although her coach puts little stock into preseason rankings, junior middle blocker Courtney Karst seems excited by the national recognition.
“”Anything’s possible. We have control of our own destiny,”” Karst said. “”Preseason, it’s just based off what people think, so you want to get out there and prove yourself.””
That’s just the kind of attitude that could put the team at the top of the rankings come the end of December.
