By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

The Oberlin prep volleyball team is unbeaten against Kansas squads.

Red Devil coach Sherri Ruf hopes it stays that way for one more weekend.

If so, Oberlin will be state volleyball champions for the first time in school history.

Oberlin enters this weekend's Class 2A State Championships in Gross Memorial Coliseum ranked No. 1 in the state, own the No. 1 seed and have a gaudy 36-1 record. The Red Devils begin pool play Friday at 3:30 p.m. against No. 8 seed Salina-Sacred Heart (25-12).

Oberlin's lone loss was early in the season against Cambridge, Neb., which was state runner-up in its classification last year.

"The girls know they have the full package -- good passers, good servers, good hitters," Ruf said. "We want to show northwest Kansas has good volleyball."

Last year at state, Oberlin did not get out of pool play. But also in that pool were runner-up Moundridge and eventual champion St. Marys.

"Last year in pool we had the two teams that played in the championship match," Ruf said. "They were disappointed, but playing Moundridge and St. Marys, we didn't lose to bad teams."

This year, the Red Devils returned most of their players. The team was at its best at last weekend's sub-state.

"I thought it was the best weekend we've had," Ruf said. "You don't want to peak in the middle of the season, but I was beginning to wonder."

Being the team with the bull's-eye on its back is not a problem.

"I think the players handle the pressure better than the coach," Ruf said.

Senior middle hitter Adrienne Pauls leads Oberlin with 240 kills, followed by junior Jordan Dreher with 172 and 122 from sophomore Kiah Blau.

"This year, we have a lot of ammunition, the amount of hitters we have," Ruf said.

Pauls also leads in blocks with 177, while Dreher is tops in assists with 305 on the season. Junior Jori Diederich has 258 digs, while Dreher has 222 and senior Brandi Diederich has 218 for the Red Devils. Dreher also has 91 aces to lead the team.

Although Oberlin has been to state several times through the years, the Red Devils' best finish is fourth in 1987.

"Beginning of the season, we talked about long-term goals and short-term goals," Ruf said. "That was one of our goals -- get to state and bring something home."