After the weekend, redemption and disappointment are both words that apply to the Arizona tennis program. As the No. 33 women’s team beat San Diego in a nail-biting match, the men’s team fell to Cal Poly for the first time in Wildcat history.
“It was a big relief to win,” women’s head coach Vicky Maes said. “We came off an emotional weekend, so we were a little nervous how the girls would come out.”
After losing the doubles play point, Arizona was under pressure to win in singles play. Senior Sarah Landsman maintained her undefeated streak in a two-set match against San Diego’s Laura Claus with a score of 6-4, 7-5. Sophomores Lacey Smyth and Susan McRann also won their singles matches to capture three wins for Arizona.
It was up to senior Natasha Marks to win her singles match against Anna Depenau to claim the match for the Wildcats. Marks lost the first set, 4-6, but fought back in the second to win 7-5. By the third, Marks held Depenau to one game to lead the Wildcats to victory, with a score of 6-1.
“It was nice to see Natasha pull the win,” Maes said. “We were in a must-win situation, but after today we can go in a little more relaxed to next weekend’s match.”
The Wildcats beat San Diego 4-3 to improve their record for the season to 2-2.
Meanwhile, the men’s team struggled on the courts against a team it was known for dominating in the past, and lost 6-1.
“Cal Poly was just the better team today,” head coach Tad Berkowitz said. “I still think that we could beat them, and we played well, they just simply beat us.”
After losing two of the three doubles matches, Arizona forfeited the third to advance play after a late start. The only Wildcat to win a singles match and walk away with a point for the team was sophomore Andre Vidaller.
Vidaller defeated the Mustang’s Brian McPhee in a tie-breaking two-set match filled with emotion 6-4, 7-6(4).
Cal Poly’s Jordan Bridge broke freshman Sumeet Shinde’s undefeated streak in singles play after a three-set match with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 3-6.
“This was a good learning experience for us,” Berkowitz said. “Learning from this will make us a stronger team and gives us the opportunity to improve each weekend.”
This marks the first loss for the men’s team, making its record 3-1 for the season.
