Groslimond falls in quarters at Pac-10’s
The No. 43 Arizona men’s tennis team was bounced out of the Pacific 10 Conference Championships this weekend in Ojai, Calif, with no Wildcat participants advancing past the quarterfinals.
Not one of the doubles teams advanced past the first round and only No. 55 senior Jeff Groslimond played in singles, where he lost to No. 25 senior KC Corkery of Stanford in the main draw quarterfinals, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
In the main draw of doubles competition the No. 54-ranked pair of Groslimond and sophomore Claudio Christen were upset by California seniors Lennart Maack and Dean Wallace, 8-4. The Wildcats’ other doubles team in the main draw, sophomore Bruno Alcala and freshman Peter Zimmer, fared no better in falling 8-4 to Stanford’s No. 15-ranked duo of Corkery and junior James Pade.
“”The guys did pretty well,”” Arizona head coach Tad Berkowitz said. “”They competed hard.””
The doubles competition took a toll on the Wildcats, Berkowitz said.
“”They competed hard and are physically tired,”” Berkowitz said. “”They are mentally worn out.””
Only one pair of Wildcats competed in the quarterfinals of the invitational draw. Junior Nathan Cochrane paired with sophomore Francois Vandermerwe, but they weren’t able to pull off the victory, barely losing 9-8 to Washington freshmen David Chu and Andy Gerst.
Throughout the tournament there was one thing in the players’ minds.
“”They are anxious for Wednesday (when the team finds out if they made NCAA Tournament),”” Berkowitz said. “”It was in the back of their minds, and (they) are anticipating it.””
The announcement will be at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNews.
Women improve on second day
The No. 36 Arizona women’s tennis team couldn’t get past the first round in doubles competition at the Pacific 10 Championships in Ojai, Calif., but two women were able to win singles matches in the back draw.
Senior Stephanie Balzert and sophomore Juliette Mavroleon were defeated by the No. 19-ranked Southern California duo of senior Luana Magnani and sophomore Lindsey Nelson, 8-3, in the first round of the main doubles draw.
“”We are looking forward to regionals,”” Mavroleon said. “”We are excited and are going to prepare and train hard.””
The pair of junior Kasia Jakowlew and freshman Tina Razloznik didn’t compete in the first round of the doubles invitational draw because Razloznik was ill.
Both Jakowlew and Mavroleon came back and won their matches in the singles back draw.
Jakowlew defeated senior Joanna Kao of Stanford in two straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
“”Kash (Kasia) did all right things but fell short (in the first round),”” Mavroleon said. “”But she came back, which was good for her.””
Mavroleon beat junior Marjolein van de Ven of Washington State in two straight sets as well, 7-6, 6-2.
“”The difference was going out there and learning from what went wrong and winning,”” Mavroleon said. “”We didn’t perform great in the first round, but we learned.””
Balzert, who also competed in the back draw, suffered a loss against freshman Victoria Brymer of Washington, 6-2, 6-4.
The team will find out if they qualified for the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNews.
