This is because Pati Rolf, the Golden Eagles head coach, is also a widely respected official in the world of volleyball.,”In most situations, a player knows that he or she should not argue with the coach, but arguing with the referee is a whole different situation.

For the Marquette women's volleyball team, they are one in the same.

Pati Rolf, the Golden Eagles head coach, is also a widely respected official in the world of volleyball. In fact, "widely respected" may be an understatement considering she is one of just 13 international referees in the United States.

Rolf has worked her way up from officiating recreational leagues and high school games in Minnesota to becoming a Big Ten official to reaching international status a little more than five years ago.

"It's basically about being seen," Rolf said. "I was line judging at the 1996 Atlanta games, and I guess that's kind of where I got the bug … and that's when the other referees I was working with were very good mentors, and they said 'Well, you should be an international referee.'"

Rolf said it was after the '96 Olympics that she put in her application for a clinic that referees must attend to achieve international status.

Rolf is just one of 12 women in the world to be a certified international official.

Rolf said the biggest event she has officiated so far was the Pan-American games this past summer. She will not be able to be a referee for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing because she does not have the seniority yet.

Being such a highly respected official puts Rolf in a unique position when it comes to the matches she coaches.

"It's a very small community so the referees that are working usually know who I am, so it's a very tenuous situation between myself and them because some referees work very well for me, knowing the rules better than they do basically because I have more experience, and other referees don't," she said. "They kind of want to show me who's boss, which really hurts the women so I really try to be mentoring and careful so I don't have an impact on the game."

Rolf tries not to have an impact on the game, but her players know that having a referee of Rolf's pedigree on their side is not a bad thing.

"It definitely matters because they obviously respect her (Rolf's) calls and it gives them something to think about when she argues with a call," sophomore Hailey Viola said.

Being a referee, Rolf has to deal with plenty of arguing from players, but that is one thing she tries to get her players to steer clear of.

"I don't have the players argue as much because I realize they have absolutely no way to change the referees call," she said.

Viola added that not having to argue for calls helps the team maintain its focus.

"She says just to work and concentrate on the game and not get too worked up if they make a bad call," Viola said.

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