As the UA volleyball team’s spring tournament season winds down, it became evident there is still much to work on after its performance in Santa Barbara this weekend.

The Wildcats dropped their first three matches of the round robin tournament to Pepperdine, Cal State-Fullerton and Cal-Poly before winning their final match against home squad, UC-Santa Barbara.

“”We didn’t perform well with the exception of the last match where we played a little steadier,”” said UA head coach Dave Rubio. “”We didn’t demonstrate any consistency in the areas we have been working on.””

Since the tournament was held during the offseason, no official stats were available but Rubio said there were some bright spots Saturday, especially from sophomore outside hitter Whitney Dosty, who is still getting back into the swing of things after missing all of last season because of knee surgery.

Rubio was also impressed with some of the other younger players, most notably freshman outside hitter Tiffany Owens and freshman setter Paige Weber. Rubio said along with Dosty, those two played the most consistently through the four matches.

“”We’re going to suffer some inconsistencies because we’re trying to get people an opportunity to play and develop into six rotation players,”” Rubio said. “”So it’s always frustrating when you’re not being successful, but on the other hand, the only way they’ll (improve) is to experience that.””

Rubio added the spring season is not really an accurate gauge of where the team will be in the fall, but it does shed light on some important areas that need to be looked at more closely.

“”I thought it was very revealing in a sense where you are really counting on certain people to play at a level, they have shown they are capable of playing at,”” he said. “”We had some people that really struggled that we’ve been depending upon and you have to look at it hard to see who you can count on when the competition level raises. It’s important to find that out now than to find it out in the fall.””

The UA will focus on having a tough week in practice to work out some of the kinks before they head into its final spring tournament this weekend in Las Vegas, Rubio said.

“”We have to have some good practices,”” he said. “”At this time of year, practices tend to be a grind but we have to get in and do practice well and that’s where we start.””