I think you are going to have to change the variable names in Excel before importing them to SAS. You can do it very easily using the formulas of Excel. Use the formula below in cell A1 to create a new variables name:
="VA" & [Sheet1!]A2
This will create a new variable name in the cell A1 with the name: Vav1
To make it even easier, replace all "Variable A" with "VA" and Variable B" with VB" before using the above the formula. The use the below solution in cell A1:
= [Sheet1!]A1 & [Sheet1!]A2
Copy and paste this formula across the row, and there you go, you have your new variable names... Then copy you entire data to this new sheet. Import this new sheet...
Hope this helps...