Wins have been hard to come by lately for the Arizona men’s tennis team.
The Wildcats (5-12, 0-2 Pacific 10 Conference) carry a six-match losing streak to Los Angeles, where they will take on No. 9 USC (16-1, 2-0) today and No. 10 UCLA (13-3, 2-0) tomorrow.
In each of the last six matches, Arizona has come up short in the end. The hardest losses came last weekend when the Wildcats lost two matches 4-3.
Most heartbreaking was the loss to California (11-7, 1-1). The match was tied at 3 with the deciding match in a third set when freshman Ravid Hezi went down with a stretched tendon in his left ankle, forcing the Wildcats to forfeit the match.
Junior Francois VanderMerwe said he felt the losses were “”just meant to be.””
“”Against Stanford, we lost the doubles, and that was tough,”” VanderMerwe said. “”But against Cal, we were up. Then we lost that fourth singles match. But what can you do about that?””
Some good news for the Wildcats is Hezi’s improved health. After being unable to complete his match Saturday, Hezi has been practicing with the team as normal.
The coaches are optimistic Hezi will be able to compete this weekend, despite some minor pain.
“”As of now, he’s in the lineup,”” said UA assistant coach Tom Lloyd. “”It’s always good to have him on the court, but if he’s not ready to play we’ve got to move on, and the next guy needs to be ready to step up.””
Women set goals to remain focused against tough Pac-10
The women’s tennis team has yet another difficult weekend in store for it.
The Wildcats (8-10, 2-2 Pacific 10 Conference) play host to two more top conference opponents in No. 7 USC (14-2, 3-0) today at 1:30 p.m. and No. 10 UCLA (12-5, 3-0) tomorrow at noon at Robson Tennis Center.
The California region of the Pac-10 has not been good to Arizona, handing the Wildcats six losses already this season. Among those six losses are two 7-0 sweeps by USC and UCLA earlier this season in Los Angeles.
Because of the Wildcats’ lack of success against these schools, they have been setting additional goals for themselves. Last weekend, Arizona’s main goal was to come together as a team, which head coach Vicky Maes felt the team was able to achieve.
“”I think the girls did a really good job being more coherent,”” Maes said. “”The chemistry on the road trip was really good despite two losses. I felt the trip was successful on many different levels.””
Maes added that setting goals can help make even losing weekends feel successful.
“”If we set a few goals we feel are attainable, then measure ourselves to that, we can walk away from the weekend and feel pretty good,”” she said.
The team’s goal this weekend is again team-oriented. Another main focus, however, is to use the matches to prepare for next week’s tilt with conference rival Oregon (11-7, 0-5). That match will hold implications for the postseason.
“”We are going to try and come together as a team and play strong as a team,”” said senior Jessie Rochefort. “”This will really help us prepare for Oregon.””
