Even traveling had its problems for the men’s tennis team this weekend.
After losses on Friday and Saturday against Intercollegiate Tennis Association No. 32 Texas Tech (8-1) and No. 49 University of Denver (8-1), respectively, the No. 25 Wildcats (6-2) were faced with a long trip back home.
A delayed flight from Lubbock, Texas, and a missed connecting flight from Dallas to Tucson forced the team to fly into Phoenix. The men then had to rent vans and drive back home, extending their trek by five hours.
After everything that happened, they were just glad to be back.
Against Texas Tech on Friday, UA couldn’t pull out a win in a close 4-3 loss.
“”Losing to Texas Tech, they’re a really good team, and they should be top-25 soon,”” said men’s head coach Tad Berkowitz. “”We had our chances, and it’s always a little more challenging to beat good teams on the road.””
The doubles point was won with a 9-7 score on Court 1 by junior Borja Malo and senior Pat Metham, with senior Ravid Hazi and junior Geoff Embry upsetting the No. 16-ranked doubles team in the country 9-8 (7-5).
The points didn’t swing the Wildcats’ way in singles though, where they dropped four of their six matches. On Court 5, Embry defeated Vitor Manzini 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and on Court 6, Metham was victorious over Raphael Pfister 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) for Arizona’s only court wins.
Coming back the next day against Denver, the Wildcats were upset again by a score of 4-3.
Women split matches against ranked BYU, Utah teams
In one match, struggles in doubles proved to be inconsequential. In another, they proved to be the beginning of a tough upset.
The No. 50 Arizona women’s tennis team (8-2) dropped all three doubles matches against ITA No. 68 Brigham Young University (3-6), including one between the ITA No. 27-ranked doubles team of McCall Jones and Megan Price and the No. 42-ranked Wildcats’ team of sophomore Natasha Marks and freshman Alexandrina Naydenova.
UA lost that particular match 8-6.
“”We had no fire in the doubles, and it cost us,”” said head coach Vicky Maes. “”We got completely swept in no time.””
But the focus and determination that Maes has been looking for this season came through in singles.
With three matches won by UA that went into a third set, sophomore Sarah Landsman was the first to finish on court two with a 6-3, 6-4 win, but the win was clinched by senior Claire Rietsch.
After dropping her first set, she won the next two sets for a final score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
“”Kudos go to Claire Rietsch for her spirit and enthusiasm during that match,”” Maes said. “”She showed the emotion we crave to see from the team at all times.””
