The Sandcats experienced a little bit of déjà vu this weekend as they opened their four-game road trip against Texas Christian. Similar to last year, they defeated the Horned Frogs by a score of 4-1. However, this year, they played on neutral courts in San Luis Obispo, Calif. in the Cal Poly Tri-Match.
Thanks to the extremely dominant performance by the No. 1 tandem Olivia Macdonald and Natalie Anselmo, the ‘Cats picked up their first win of the trip. The pair played against TCU’s Jillian Bergeson and Jae Greene in the spotlight match and defeated them in two commanding sets (21-3 and 21-13).
Right behind the No. 1 team, the freshman-sophomore combo of Brooke Burling and Jonny Baham helped pick up a win for Arizona with a 21-16 and 23-21 victory against TCU’s Claire Doyle and Hannah Rogers.
Burling, a sophomore, was able to avenge herself this year after her loss against TCU’s Doyle last year, which gave the Horned Frogs their only point against Arizona.
In addition, Wildcat tandem Olivia Hallaran and Kacey Nady defeated the TCU duo Cassie House and Haven Hill in a three-set nail biter. The ‘Cats dropped the first set by a score of 18-21 but managed to come back with a win in the second set (22-20) and in the third set as well (15-9).
Wildcats Mia Mason and Makenna Martin gave the Horned Frogs their only point of the match by dropping their game in two sets (21-13 and 21-19).
The ‘Cats second game against Cal Poly was a different story. The SandCats struggled in their second game against the Mustangs, losing by a score of 1-4.
Arizona’s No. 5 team, Hailey Devlin and Stephany Purdue, was the only pair to get a victory for the ‘Cats after defeating the Mustang tandem Heather Pembroke and Macy Gordon in a three-set match (21-15, 18-21, 15-9).
All four of Arizona’s other pairs were not able to snag a point for the Sandcats as they fell short in hard-fought battles.
The No. 3 pair, Burling and Baham, were able to take their match to three sets; however, they fell in the third set by a score of 15-17.
The No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 ranked teams all fell to the Mustangs in two sets. After the game against Cal Poly today, Macdonald and Anselmo suffered their first loss of the season.
The SandCats bring their total record to 7-3 on the season before a doubleheader tomorrow (March 18) in Monterrey, Calif against San Jose State and Santa Clara at 9am and 11am PST, respectively.
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