It was a bittersweet end to the regular season this weekend for the Arizona women’s tennis team.
On Friday, the Wildcats shut out Portland State in the last home match of the season, winning the match 7-0. Arizona came up victorious in all three doubles matches, and senior Danielle Steinberg at position No. 1 and freshman Debora Castany at position No. 6 both shut out their singles opponents with scores of 6-0, 6-0.
The match also marked the UA’s lone senior Steinberg’s last home showing after four years with the program.
“”Friday was pretty emotional. I knew that we were going to have a ceremony or something, but I figured it would just be flowers,”” Steinberg said. “”They had me stay in the room and they did a video of my four years, and (head coach) Vicky (Maes) spoke … it was awesome. I felt really appreciated and it made me appreciate my time here even more.
“”I’m glad the match after that was kind of an easy one,”” she added. “”It was nice to go out there the last time and have a fun match.””
On Saturday, however, the team did not have an answer for in-state rival ASU, ultimately losing 5-2.
“”That was a tough one because, yeah, I’ve never beaten them and I really felt this year was it,”” Steinberg said. “”Looking at the lineup, I thought we were going to win over there.””
Steinberg’s 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 victory over ASU’s Kelcy McKenna was quite a coup for the senior, as McKenna was ranked No. 5 in the nation.
“”It’s my last team match and I gave it everything I had. Personally, I’ve had a good weekend,”” Steinberg said. “”We lost the doubles point which was really disappointing. It’s really hard to play over there.””
In spite of Saturday’s letdown, Steinberg had positive words for the future of the program.
“”Young,”” she said, as a way of characterizing this year’s team. “”I think a lot of unfulfilled potential; we are a very good team, we just couldn’t convert our potential to actual wins.
“”(There is) so much talent on the team, and it’s really disappointing to look back at the matches we lost that we shouldn’t have,”” Steinberg added, “”… but I think there’s a bright future for the program.””
