After having their match cancelled against Nevada due to rain on Friday, the No. 34 Wildcat women came away with a 6-1 opening-day victory over NAU Saturday at Robson Tennis Center. The match began two hours after its scheduled time due to the on again, off again rain showers which struck throughout the day on Friday.

After the postponement Arizona was to play a doubleheader against NAU slated for 10 a.m. and Nevada at 4 p.m., but Nevada’s travel schedule didn’t fit the plans.

“”I was out there at 6 a.m.,”” (on Saturday) UA assistant coach Brian Ramirez said of the efforts to get the courts ready for Saturday’s match. “”There were many other people too. We got a lot of help.””

What Ramirez and his helpers got to do all morning was a combination of rolling squeegees across the courts and blow-drying the courts with minimal help from the sun. Then, finally, after six hours of work, the courts were ready to go.

“”Most of the girls were just hanging out in McKale,”” freshman Katie Orletsky said regarding the rain delays both Friday and Saturday. “”It was tiring to have to sit around. I tried to get in the gym to stay warm.””

Despite the long delays the team didn’t let the conditions affect its game. The Wildcats started the match off by sweeping the Lumberjacks in doubles play and then taking five out of the six singles matches with the only loss coming from junior Camelia Todorova at the No. 6 spot.

One of the most exciting, as well as longest, matches of the day was played between Orletsky and NAU’s Paij Porter in the No. 4 singles position. Orletsky, who was playing in her first college match, took the first set 6-4 and then fell behind 4-5 in the second set. She won the next two games to bring the set to 6-5, but she couldn’t close out the match and the two went to a tiebreaker. From here Orletsky dominated and won the tiebreaker 7-5 to seal the match.

“”I had trouble getting my rhythm,”” Orletsky said. But “”I came to the net, which helped a lot.””

“”She did a good job,”” UA head coach Vicky Maes said of Orletsky. “”(Porter) gave her some tough shots and put her in a difficult situation, but she kept her cool and managed that really well.””

After what was a successful weekend for the Wildcats, there is only one regret: that they only picked up one victory instead of two.

“”I would have liked to get two matches in before we head to Denver,”” Maes said. “”But it is what it is and I’m of course happy with this outcome.””