During a difficult weekend for Arizona women’s tennis, one in which it lost both matches, senior Natasha Marks still managed her own personal victory. Marks pulled an upset on Friday against California’s No. 53-ranked Tayler Davis in Berkeley, Calif.
After dropping the first set 4-6, Marks came back to win the second set 6-4. To close out the match in the third set Marks defeated Davis 1-0(7).
“Even though we lost to Cal we put up a good performance,” Marks said. “Had we won the doubles point it would have put us in a good standing going into singles play. It would have definitely rattled their cage.”
Marks was one of two Wildcats to earn match points for the team, as No. 9 California defeated No. 28 Arizona 5-2.
On Saturday, Arizona and No. 6 Stanford jumped right into singles play due to the threat of rain in Palo Alto, Calif. Even though the Wildcats lost 4-0, head coach Vicky Maes commended the team on its effort.
“The team showed once again that we can hang with the top programs,” Maes said. “I really felt that, with a little more confidence in the big moments, we could have made it a lot closer and put some needed wins on the board. Our girls are starting to see it too, so our goal for next weekend is to keep creating the opportunities, but then also closing on the big points.”
The Wildcats fell to 12-6 overall and 2-3 in Pac-12 Conference play.
Shinde steps up
Emotions ran high this weekend at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center as freshman Sumeet Shinde won his first two matches of Pac-12 play.
Shinde earned one of two match points for Arizona men’s tennis in his singles match against Stanford’s Matt Kandath on Friday. Two points determined both sets as Shinde edged Kandath 6-4, 7-5.
Arizona fell 5-2 to No. 8 Stanford.
“I hope the guys learned today that they can play with top teams,” head coach Tad Berkowitz said. “The guys fought hard with a good attitude and I am proud of them for that.”
On Sunday, Shinde’s winning ways continued as he took on California’s Carlos Cueto.
After a disappointing 1-6 loss in the first set, Shinde turned his frustration into motivation to make it through two grueling sets.
Shinde edged Cueto 7-5 in the second set. With the momentum of the match in his favor, Shinde fought for every point in the third set. Shinde beat Cueto by only two games to earn the Wildcats their second match point. Arizona lost 5-2 to No. 12 California.
“I hope the guys realize how close we were to winning this weekend,” Berkowitz said. “We put ourselves in the position to win against Cal, and it shows a lot about the guys.”
The team fell 5-12 overall and 0-2 in Pac-12 play.
