By
David Stevenson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Team evaluates motivation for early match
With Sunday's match at the Robson Tennis Center at 10 a.m., the No. 49 Arizona men's tennis team is searching for early morning attitude. The coaches don't mind the early start, but the players are reluctantly awaiting Northern Arizona.
"I'd rather us play in the morning," head coach Bill Wright said. "It gives us more time to prepare for the next match along with resting for school the next day."
The players said they are excited that the season is underway, but most of the them jokingly wonder about the importance of the morning match.
"I have religious reasons (to not play on Sunday) when there's a 10 a.m. match," senior Jari Niskala said.
Junior Brian Jackson agreed.
"Even God rests on Sunday," he said.
NAU (0-1 overall) opened the season losing to No. 75 New Mexico, 6-1.
NAU senior Rodolfo Cisneros - the Big Sky Conference's Most Valuable Player last season - has complied a 33-9 spring record in the past two years. He was selected to the first All-Conference team for the second straight year.
However, the Lumberjacks didn't play in the fall Arizona State tournament, leaving UA (2-1, 0-1 Pacific 10 Conference) without a chance to scout them.
"We'll call up (Pac-10 teams') opponents to see how they look for conference matches," Wright said.
The top three in the singles lineup for the weekend will be junior Steven Capriati, sophomore Tom Lloyd and freshman Carl Hagman.
Junior Bruno Arapovic did not practice yesterday after feeling a twinge in his back during an early morning lifting session.
"It's just a slight disk problem and I expect him to practice and be in the lineup on Sunday," Wright said.
Arizona jumped 11 spots in the rankings after opening the season with victories over New Mexico State and Santa Clara. But the loss to perennial powerhouse No. 3 UCLA hasn't disturbed the overall atmosphere.
"We really didn't play all that bad," Wright said.
The canceled match against Southern California won't be played unless it has implications on the conference race, Wright said.
If played, it will be at the end of the season at the conference championships in Ojai, Calif.
Since Sunday's match is non-conference, it will allow the Wildcats time to prepare for conference play when most scouting occurs.
"These non-conference matches are still warm-ups for the rest of the season," Wright said.
