The Arizona women’s and men’s tennis teams closed out the regular season with matches this past weekend.

Women’s tennis went to Tempe, where they were defeated by ASU, 7-0. The men traveled to Salt Lake City to take on Utah and also fell short 4-2.

While in Tempe, the women, ranked No. 53, were in the match on almost every single court, but ASU took advantage of the big points.

“We had plenty of opportunities, but ASU battled back each time,” Arizona women’s tennis coach Vicky Maes said.

ASU started off on a great note, as they won the doubles point. UA doubles partners senior Briar Preston and junior Shayne Austin were defeated 8-5 by their ASU counterparts. 

Sophomore Lauren Marker and her partner, junior Inge Hendrikx, were the first court to be defeated 8-4 to ASU partners ranked No. 53. The last match was called unfinished.

In the singles, ASU was on top of its game as it swiped Arizona 6-0.

No. 58 ranked Marker lost to No. 32 ranked Desirae Krawczyk in just two sets, 7-6 and 6-3. No. 94 Preston was also defeated by ASU’s Stephanie Vlad in three sets 6-7, 6-2 and 10-6.

Senior Laura Oldham concluded her regular season career by being defeated by Kassidy Jump 6-4 and 6-1. 

“It’s obviously heartbreaking losing your final match, especially against ASU, but I’ve been part of a great team, which has come so far this year,” Oldham said. “With only six girls on the team, I think that has really impacted us toward the end of the season, especially with fatigue and injury. It’s sad my college career has come to an end; I’ll definitely miss it, but I’ve had a great experience and a fantastic four years.”

During Oldham’s singles match, she kept her focus the whole time, but she struggled to put her opponent under pressure.

“In singles, my opponent hit a very good ball and overpowered me,” Oldham said.

The Wildcats finished up their regular season matches but do have a chance to play again in the Pac-12 Championship, as singles for some and doubles for others, to try and make it to the NCAA individual championship. 

Although the team did not finish as hoped, Maes said she’s still impressed with how her team performed. 

“While we didn’t finish the season the way we had liked, we did a really good job this year with our group and made huge strides since the fall,” Maes said.

Up next, Arizona heads to Ojai, Calif., to compete in the Pac-12 Championship on Thursday.

The men’s tennis team lost the doubles point against Utah but quickly came back from behind as junior Naoki Takeda, ranked No. 63, got his 23rd victory of the season, and freshman Shoki Kasahara won on court five, 6-0 and 6-3.

Takeda quickly won his matches 6-2 and 6-0 to tie the points up 1-1. Freshman David Mushayev then fell to his opponent 7-5 and 6-0, giving Utah the advantage 2-1.

Kasahara responded by winning and thus tying the points 2-2.

Arizona fought hard to stay in the match, but Utah was able to hold on to the win as junior Jason Jaruvang lost 6-1 and 6-4 on court two, and junior Trevor James was defeated on court six, 6-2 and 7-5, giving Utah the fourth point.

The Wildcats will be back in action on Wednesday in Ojai, Calif., to compete in the Pac-12 Championship. 

_______________

Follow Stevie Katz on Twitter.