The Arizona women’s tennis team started their season off with a bang this past weekend with two commanding victories. The Wildcats defeated NAU 7-0 on Saturday and followed that with another sweep, beating University of Texas at El Paso 7-0 as well.

“”The girls played fantastic on Friday, really solid on all fronts. On Sunday, we had a bit of a slow start in the doubles but, once we got past that, played beautifully in singles to close out the match,”” said head coach Vicky Maes.

After handily defeating NAU in doubles, UTEP proved to be a little more difficult to defeat in that portion of the match. In position No. 1, Natasha Marks and Sarah Landsman staved off a comeback by the Miners’ Martina Trierweiler and Carolina DeLuca to win 8-6. In another back-and-forth battle in position No. 2, Wildcats Susan Mc Rann and Jane Huh also won 8-6. In the No. 3 position, Debora Castany and Lacey Smyth defeated the Miners duo of Dariya Abdrakhmanova and Marie LeBlond in a tiebreaker, winning (9-8) (7-5).

“”We have come a long way in the doubles and that’s been a confidence booster for everyone. As far as singles, we also look good,”” Maes said.

The Wildcats proved their singles talent after handily taking care of UTEP in all six singles matches.

The three Wildcat juniors handled their opponents nicely. In position No. 1, Marks took an early lead and never looked back, defeating Trierweiler 6-4, 6-1. Landsman, who was matched up with UTEP’s Gabi Vazquez, won 6-1, 6-0. Castany was the last Wildcat to finish her match, defeating Ximena Fuentes 6-2, 6-3.

Two freshmen made stellar debuts for the Wildcats in Smyth and Mc Rann. Smyth was excellent as she took care of her opponent in an easy 6-0, 6-0 win.