A sea of red filled the bleachers at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on Friday. The lively crowd cheered on the No. 27 Arizona women’s tennis team as it shut out ASU on Friday and finished the season undefeated at home.
“If you would have told me that we would have shut out ASU today I wouldn’t have believed you,” head coach Vicky Maes said. “Every person showed up to play. This win was very impressive to cap off an amazing home season.”
This third consecutive shutout for the Wildcats (16-8, 6-5 Pac-12) extends their undefeated record at home to 13-0. The victory also marks the first time since 2004 that Arizona beat ASU.
Prior to the match seniors Natasha Marks, Sarah Landsman and Debora Castany were recognized for their four seasons as Wildcats.
After a forfeit on court three, Marks and partner sophomore Lacey Smyth put on a show in doubles on court one. The two girls played aggressively, defeating ASU’s Michelle Brycki and Joanna Smith 8-4 to clinch the doubles point.
“Doubles took us a long time to get started,” Maes said. “We didn’t play great because we were more focused on the outcome not the process.”
In singles play, the Wildcats held the Sun Devils to claiming only between one and three games on all six courts.
“With the Pac-12 tournament beginning next week, our focus goes beyond that and into nationals,” Maes said.
Disappointing finish for men’s tennis
In a last-chance effort to pull off a Pac-12 win, only freshman Carlos Bermudez and sophomore Kieren Thompson came through as the Arizona men’s tennis team fell 5-2 to Utah on Saturday.
After losing the doubles point, the pressure intensified as singles play began.
The Wildcats (5-17, 0-6) dropped two straight matches, but Bermudez’s singles win brought some hope to the Wildcats. On court four, Bermudez took on the Utes’ Rafael Davidian. Bermudez held Davidian to winning only three games in each set.
It was up to Thompson, fellow sophomore Mario Urquidi and freshman Sebastian Ionescu to win four consecutive matches to pull Arizona out of its winless rut.
As Uriquidi’s match on court two went into a third set, all eyes turned to court five and six in anticipation.
Thompson was up a set and Ionescu was down a set. Thompson ended everyone’s anticipation by claiming the second set against Utah’s Devin Lane. Like Bermudez, Thompson held Lane to three games in each set.
In the midst of a tiebreaker in the second set, Ionescu managed to fight back to tie the breaker at 5-5. Two small mistakes by the Romanian native cost Arizona the match. Ionescu lost both sets with scores of 6-2, 7-6(5).
“It’s unacceptable to be last in the conference and it’s my job to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” head coach Tad Berkowitz said.
