UA volleyball team rolling, but rough schedule remains

Arizona volleyball coach Dave Rubio ended a 19-match losing streak to Stanford on Friday, beating the No. 12 Cardinal in California, capping a telling streak in which Arizona has beaten USC, UCLA and Stanford — all Top 25 teams — on the road. It is one of the most defining periods of Rubio’s 25 Arizona seasons. It doesn’t get easier. Top 25 foes Washington State and Washington play at McKale Center next weekend. “I knew we had the potential for a very good team this year,” Rubio told me last week. “But to get to the point that you can win on the road on the Pac-12, and keep it up, requires you to be at the highest level in volleyball. There’s a long, long way to go.” Arizona has 13 Pac-12 matches remaining. Dozens of former Rubio players will return to Tucson to celebrate his 25th anniversary for the early November UCLA-USC series at McKale.