The tough match against Stanford last Sunday convinced outsiders that the Arizona Wildcats are able to hang with elite squads.
The AVCA voters were impressed enough with the loss that Arizona (12-2, 1-1 Pac-12) moved into the top 25 after several weeks of holding in the “others receiving votes” category.
For Arizona coach Dave Rubio, though, it didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know.
“There’s no moral victories for us,” Rubio said. “And, despite the fact that we played Stanford as close as anybody, to me all it proves is it reinforces what I already knew about our team.