When Arizona volleyball head coach Dave Rubio went into the recruiting process this past year, he had one thing on his mind: to sign Whitney Dosty.

He didn’t have to go far for the Tucson Salpointe Catholic High School graduate, who had a minimum of two years less experience than most of the other players being considered, but Rubio said that Dosty was the No. 1 prospect on his list for many reasons.

“”She was one of the top three or four athletes playing volleyball in her class, and we felt she was the player we could get because she was so close to the program,”” Rubio said.

Rubio knew what he was doing all along.

“”I have known the Dosty family ever since Whitney was 11 or 12 years old,”” he said.

“”We were trying to get Whitney to go and play volleyball back when she was 11 or 12, but she ended up going into dancing.””

Luckily for Rubio, Dosty gave up her first love, ballet, and decided to take up volleyball her junior year of high school.

“”I think I just wanted to try a sport,”” Dosty said. “”I never really played any sports when I was doing ballet, so I decided to take one up.””

That turned out to be a good decision.

In high school, Dosty was a two-time letterwinner in volleyball and an Arizona Republic first-team, all-state selection. She was later rated the fourth-best recruit coming out of high school nationally, according to PrepVolleyball.com.

So far Dosty hasn’t let anyone down, as she is averaging 3.27 kills per game, second on the team to sophomore outside hitter Brooke Buringrud, to go along with a .162 kill percentage.

Rubio said he was impressed with how well she can perform with considerably less experience than the other girls.

“”She gets by because she is so athletic,”” Rubio said. “”As soon as she becomes as skilled as she is athletic, watch out, it is going to be pretty special.””

Said Buringrud: “”She is a huge impact on our team. She is one of our main hitters, she puts up a lot of points and she is just a great person to have in general.””

Rubio also said that he was happy with the way that Dosty has been progressing since the beginning of the year.

“”She is a really different player than she was even a few weeks ago,”” Rubio said. “”It’s a gradual slow process, but she is a really hard-working kid.””

Although she isn’t fully developed, Rubio said that her individual success is an important thing to the success of the team as a whole.

“”The more individual success she has, the more successful we are going to be,”” he said.

Junior middle blocker Dominique Lamb said, “”She is one of our starting outside hitters, so she is one of the most valuable players on the team.””

Lamb said that the leadership Dosty brings to the team is important.

“”There are many different types of leaders and she is definitely one of them,”” Lamb said. “”This is all new to her, but I think she is doing a great job.””

Although she might be considered a leader, Dosty is just worried about the team.

“”I don’t really consider myself a leader,”” she said. “”I just want to go out there and try my hardest, and hopefully we will play like a team.””

People tend to forget how young she is due to her athleticism and ability. It might be too soon, but Dosty is already drawing comparisons to one of Arizona’s greats, ’05 senior Kim Glass, a four-time All-Pacific 10 Conference selection and a three-time All-American.

Rubio said that as Dosty continues to progress, he wouldn’t be surprised if she turns out to be just like Glass.

“”She athletically is in that same class as Kim was,”” Rubio said. “”It is hard to imagine having someone as good as Kim back in the program, but I think athletically she has that kind of athleticism.

“”Now the question is, ‘Can we develop her skills?’ and I think that will happen by her senior year. “”