The No. 30 Arizona women’s tennis team was looking forward to coming back to its home courts and playing in front of its own fans. Facing No. 1 Stanford and No. 11 California was a whole different story, though.
The Wildcats (12-9, 3-3 Pacific 10 Conference) could not continue their two-match winning streak, losing to California (15-6, 6-1) 6-1 on Saturday and Stanford (22-0, 7-0) 4-1 on Friday at the Robson Tennis Center.
Freshman captain Danielle Steinberg was the lone bright spot for Arizona against the Golden Bears, as she upset No. 10 junior Zsuzsanna Fodor 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
Steinberg, ranked No. 48, was the lone player to win her singles match and kept her team from being swept.
Senior Stephanie Balzert, who played in the No. 2 slot last week, sat the match out, making way for junior Kasia Jakowlew to compete in the No. 2 slot for the first time this year. Senior Iza Ferriera competed in the No. 6 position after everyone moved up a position.
In doubles, the pair of Steinberg and sophomore Camelia Todorova was the only team to win its match, beating sophomore Stephanie Kusano and freshman Bojana Bobusic 8-5. However, Arizona was unable to claim the doubles point.
When Arizona hosted Stanford on Friday, they were unable to scrape out a single point. After losing the doubles point because Stanford swept all three doubles matches, the Wildcats were already in a bind before singles play began.
Singles play didn’t get any easier for the women, as five of the six players from Stanford were ranked.
The Wildcats prevented the sweep after Todorova won her match in two straight sets over sophomore Lejla Hodzic, the only Cardinal not to be ranked.
Since the match was decided when Stanford took its 4-1 lead, both Steinberg and Jakowlew didn’t finish their matches. However, Steinberg led senior No. 19 Amber Liu in the No. 1 spot, 6-4, 4-1, before her match was stopped.