The SandCats are squared away for a four-game road trip to California this weekend. To open their trip, the ‘Cats face off against Texas Christian University and Cal Poly in the Cal Poly Tri-Match in San Luis Obispo, California. After the first day of playing, the ‘Cats travel up north to Monterrey, California for another double-header against San Jose State University and Santa Clara.
Last year, the Wildcats dominated Texas Christian by a score of 4-1 during an away game in Fort Worth, Texas. The top-four ranked Arizona teams were able to get the victory for the ‘Cats; however, the No. 5 team, Halli Amaro and Brooke Burling, fell in a hard-fought battle against TCU’s Shane Peters and Claire Doyle.
On the other hand, the ‘Cats did not have the chance to compete against Cal Poly last year. The Mustangs have won their past seven games with the last three games being sweeps.
On Sunday, the ‘Cats have another double-header in Monterrey, California against San Jose State and Santa Clara.
Earlier this season, the Wildcats dominated SJSU by a score of 5-0 in the Cactus Classic in Tucson. The top-ranked pair, MacDonald and Anselmo, split a game each (21-17 and 21-23) against San Jose State’s Nandyala Gama and Lyndi Scholl before going into the final set where the two Wildcats managed to win the set 15-13.
Arizona has not yet played against the Santa Clara Broncos this season. However, last year, the SandCats dominated the Broncos by a score of 4-1 in the Wildcat Spring Challenge at home. The Broncos’ No. 2 duo of Jensen Cunningham and Kirsten Mead were able to pick up a win against Wildcat tandem Olivia Hallaran and Olivia Macdonald in two sets (21-15 and 25-23).
Sophomore Anselmo has seen the spotlight so far this season. She had the opportunity to move up from the No. 6-ranked team to the top-ranked team from her freshman to sophomore years.
So far, she has performed exceptionally well with senior Olivia Macdonald. They have helped bring wins against very competitive teams such as the Washington Huskies, the school who ended the Wildcats’ season last year in the Pac-12 Championships.
“We’re both super competitive and know how to talk to each other well. I really love playing with her,” says Anselmo on her relationship with Macdonald.
The Sand Cats look to improve to 10-2 on the season after a four-game trip to California this weekend against four competitive programs.
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