In the eyes of the Arizona women’s tennis team, a victory on Saturday against in-state rivals ASU is long overdue.
During the first encounter with the Sun Devils this season, Arizona jumped ahead to a 1-0 start but were unable to complete the match due to rain. The Wildcats have the opportunity to finish what they started on Saturday, where they will face ASU again, this time in Tempe at 1 p.m. for the last match of the regular season.
Before that, however, they will face Portland State at the Robson
Tennis Center today at 1 p.m. The match against Portland State is something UA head coach Vicky Maes is determined her team will not ignore.
“”We obviously have a big match against ASU and the most important thing is that we do not overlook
Portland State,”” she said. “”The fact that we had two good matches overall last weekend gives me good confidence that we’ll be able to come out tomorrow and play a tough match against Portland State.””
Portland State is 4-16 on the season, and 1-6 in its Big Sky Conference, compared with No. 68 Arizona (10-9, 1-6 Pacific 10 Conference).
“”We still have to make things happen,”” Maes said. “”We get a little
complacent against teams we are supposed to beat.””
The Sun Devils (10-8, 3-7) are seeded 25 in the ITA rankings. Maes anticipates that, given the rivalry, Saturday’s match will contain a higher degree of intensity. However, she added that her players are no longer in awe of ASU, something that could work to the Wildcats’ advantage.
“”There’s a rivalry and it’s more emotional,”” Maes said. “”But I think as far as the freshmen go, they’ve played bigger teams than ASU now. When we played them earlier, they were the highest-ranked team we had played thus far. It will help that the freshmen have more experience, that we play better doubles.””
Arizona’s head coach was not remiss to mention her freshmen so often, as all three have played critical roles in the season. However, she cautioned that the team has yet to find a solution for the fifth and sixth positions , respectively, both of which have not been met with consistent success on the season and has seen the players in those spots fluctuate.
“”They’re a weakness,”” Maes said of those two spots on the team. “”We have to see more out of them. They don’t believe they can do it, and it puts more pressure on one, two, three and four. We need to hang in there and battle it out on every court.””
