The No. 46 Arizona men’s tennis team split a pair of matches in nonconference play this weekend in Boise, Idaho.
The Wildcats (7-3, 0-2 Pacific-10 Conference) ended their three-game losing streak yesterday, beating No. 76 William & Mary (7-7), 4-1 after losing at No. 32 Boise State (6-3) by a score of 5-2.
It started to look down for the Wildcats after they lost the doubles point to the Tribe. Senior Jeff Groslimond and sophomore Claudio Christen were the only pair to win their match against junior Colin O’Brien and senior Stephen Ward.
Yet, Arizona rebounded and swept William & Mary in singles as No. 80 senior Roger Matalonga won his second match in a row.
Against the Broncos in doubles, Matalonga and Francois VanderMerwe were the only pair to win their match against sophomore Eric Roberson and junior Piotr Dilaj, by a score of 8-6. This is the second time this season the two have competed in doubles together since Feb. 5 when they lost to Pacific.
Matalonga also found success in singles, something he had been lacking in the previous three matches. In three sets, Matalonga beat senior Thomas Schoeck in the No. 1 position, 7-6, 3-6, 10-7.
Information taken from
www.arizonaathletics.com and
www.tribeathletics.com.
Confidence continues for women despite losses
Despite the recent increase of competitive opponents, one thing remains constant for the No. 48 Arizona women’s tennis team: The confidence is still there.
“”Our confidence won’t go down as long as we keep fighting hard and keeping matches close,”” said sophomore Juliette Mavroleon.
The Wildcats (9-3, 0-3 Pacific 10 Conference) lost another pair of games this weekend in Northern California, getting swept 7-0 at No. 1 Stanford (13-0, 4-0) Saturday and losing 5-1 at No. 8 California (9-3, 3-2) Friday.
The Wildcats knew going in that it would be a tough match against the Cardinal, considering every Stanford singles player is ranked.
For the second week in a row, Mavroleon put up a fight in trying to stop the sweep, as her match was the only one that was taken into three sets. No. 11 Theresa Logar, a junior, beat Mavroleon 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9).
The Wildcats were in a similar position against the Golden Bears, when bad weather restricted the teams from competing in doubles.
Mavroleon was the lone player to win her match, keeping the Wildcats from getting swept. She beat sophomore Stephanie Kusano, 4-6, 6-3, (10-2) in a super tiebreaker in the No. 3 spot.