Sports Briefs

Ian Meyer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA sophomore Maureen Kealey performs her floor routine at this season's opening meet. The Wildcats face the Arizona State Sun Devils tonight at 7:30 at McKale Center.

Bowers, UA host ASU in final home meet

For the No. 17-ranked Arizona gymnastics team, tonight's meet with fifth-ranked Arizona State is a critical precursor to the Pacific 10 Conference Championships.

For senior Becky Bowers, though, tonight's meet will mean something else.

"Tonight will be the last official time I take the floor at McKale Center, before the Pac-10 Championships (March 22 at McKale Center). It will be sad for me to leave this program, but we still have more to accomplish this year," Bowers said.

The Wildcats (9-4, 3-1 in the Pac-10) are fully aware that the Sun Devils want redemption.

"They (Arizona State) hate to lose to us, since we finished last year much stronger than them," UA head coach Jim Gault said. "But, they have really improved their status this year, being ranked in the top five."

ASU (8-2, 4-1) after coming off wins against California and at the Master's Classic in Lincoln, Neb.

"We have to come in together as a team and use the skills that we have to be ready to attack," Bowers said.

-Andrew Carrol

Tennis coach faces former player now at San Jose St.

Arizona men's tennis coach Bill Wright will meet one of his former players tomorrow when the Wildcats face San Jose State.

John Hubbell, the San Jose State head coach, played for Wright at California in 1978.

The dual match starts at 1:30 p.m. Arizona will play Washington on Sunday at noon. The two non-Pacific 10 Conference matches will be played at Robson Tennis Center.

The No. 17 Wildcats (3-2, 0-2 in the Pac-10 South Division) have not played a dual match for nearly two weeks.

The unranked Spartans (1-3, 0-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) come to Tucson after losing 7-0 loss to Stanford on Tuesday.

The Wildcats want revenge against No. 41 Washington (5-3, 1-2) , who beat Arizona 5-2 earlier this season at an indoor tournament in Seattle.

"They're a very good team indoors, and we never get to play indoors. So (now) they'll get to play outdoors, so we'll see if we can even the score," Wright said.

The Huskies have lost their last three matches after beginning the season with five straight victories.

"We're not going to do anything different or special this weekend," Wright said. "We're just going to try to play solid tennis and hope we do the things we do better than we have."

- Kristen Davis

Women's tennis lineup finally set for the season

Everything is starting to fall into place for the Arizona women's tennis team.

"We all finally put the little details together and we're playing pretty well," sophomore Karen Goldstein said.

The fifth-ranked Wildcats play Oregon on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Robson Tennis Center.

The return of junior Betsy Miringoff is one of the reasons the Wildcats (6-4 overall, 1-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) are feeling so confident.

"It's been a real big plus. She's a very good player, so it just helps the team having her back," UA head coach Becky Bell said.

Oregon won its last match, 5-4 against Ohio State on Sunday. The Ducks (3-2) are led by Alina Wygonowska, who is 2-3 in singles dual matches and will most likely play Maes.

"They're actually a good team," Bell said. "I think it's going to be the best Oregon team they've ever had, so I think it's going to be a good match."

- Kristen Davis

Rugby seeks first-ever conference championship

The Arizona rugby team will have to defeat UCLA today and Long Beach State on Sunday if it wants to be in the national collegiate rugby finals.

The Wildcats have the best chance in their 28-year-history to win their first-ever conference title this season. The team has the best record in the Southern California Collegiate Rugby Conference at 4-0.

"The spirits on the team are high," UA head coach David Sitton said. "I hope we'll continue winning and drilling out hard."

Sitton said the Wildcats have finished in second place in the conference before, "but never played hard enough," to finish first.

With two wins, the Wildcats will claim at least a tie for the conference championship and an automatic berth into the national playoffs.

The Wildcats face ASU in their final home match next Sunday at 1 p.m. at Estevan Park.

- Carlos Arias