USC and UCLA are two of the top-ranked teams in the nation, and despite a good showing against both schools, the Arizona women’s tennis team was unable to come out on top.
In Friday’s match against the Trojans, the Wildcats (10-8, 1-5 Pacific 10 Conference) jumped out to a strong start by claiming the doubles point. The duos of Danielle Steinberg and Sarah Landsman, and Ariane Masschelein and Jane Huh defeated their doubles opponents by the scores of 8-5 and 8-1, respectively.
No. 9 USC (19-2, 7-0), however, proved too much for Arizona in its singles game. Only the freshman Landsman was able to come up with a win in the No. 3 position against USC’s Gabriela Niculescu, and Arizona ultimately lost 5-2.
On Saturday, Arizona’s matchup against UCLA (17-5, 5-2) had to be postponed due to inclement weather. When it resumed in an abbreviated fashion on Sunday, the Wildcats were defeated 4-2. The freshmen again displayed a strong showing for Arizona, with Natasha Marks and Landsman coming up with wins against their opponents in singles, making Landsman 2-0 for the weekend in singles play. The Wildcats also saw success in doubles during the match, with the Steinberg-Landsman duo overcoming Carling Seguso and Stephanie Wetmore – ranked No. 30 in the ITA rankings. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, due to the shortened nature of the match, it was the only doubles match to be played and was not ultimately counted in the final score.
Next weekend, Arizona will face No. 25 ASU. The Wildcats saw ASU earlier this season, but the match was rained out.
Powerhouses prove too much for men’s team
After last weekend’s upset over Stanford, the No. 18 Arizona men’s tennis squad hoped to take out two more Pac-10 powerhouses in its last two matches of the regular season, but was unable to do so.
In their first shutout of the season, the Wildcats lost on Friday 7-0 to USC (18-4, 5-0). After falling behind early in doubles, Arizona (17-4, 2-3) proved unable to regroup in singles, although sophomore Jay Goldman managed to defeat his opponent, No. 4 Robert Farah, down to the wire in the No. 1 spot. He ultimately lost 6-1, 9-7, 10-4.
On Saturday, in the final match of the regular season, the Wildcats were taken down 5-2 by UCLA. The Bruins (15-4, 5-0) claimed the doubles point, once again putting Arizona at a 1-0 disadvantage entering singles play. In the No. 1 spot, Goldman defeated Holden Seguso 6-2, 7-5. Junior Ravid Hazi also emerged triumphant in singles, defeating Harel Srugo 7-6, 4-3.
This marks Arizona’s first three-match losing streak of the season, as well as the end of regular season play. The Wildcats will not be in action until April 23 to compete in the Pac-10 Championships.
