Wildcat men try for first conference victory

The UA men's tennis team looks to bounce back and return to its winning ways as it plays host to rival ASU today at 1:30 p.m. at the Robson Tennis Center.

The Wildcats have lost three straight and are eager to earn their first Pacific 10 Conference win of the year. Even though UA has lost three consecutive matches, Arizona head coach Bill Wright said his team has played well at times.

The Wildcats last three losses include two of the nations best teams - USC and UCLA - who are No. 4 and 5, respectively.

Arizona (6-3 overall, 0-2 Pac-10) comes into its meet against ASU (4-2, 0-2 Pac-10) pretty evenly matched.

In order for UA to get back on track, sophomore Whi Kim has to continue to play at the level he has maintained this season.

Kim had his 19 home, match winning streak snapped last weekend against UCLA, but he said he is more focused on moving on and trying to improve this weekend.

"I look at it as a loss," Kim said. "I have lost many times in my life. I want to come back and play well, especially against ASU."

With Arizona losing its first two matches in the Pac-10, Kim said this match may turn out to be the most important match UA plays all season.

"We can't afford another loss right now," he said. "We have a big advantage playing at home and it is a really important match for us."

Women's tennis loses third consecutive match

First year coach Vicky Maes faces her first challenge as she has to find a way to get the UA women's tennis team back on track.

After losing to UCLA and Southern California last weekend 1-6 in both matches, the Wildcats looked to bounce back against in-state rival ASU on Wednesday - but that did not happen.

Arizona (4-3 overall, 1-2 Pacific 10 Conference) dropped its third consecutive match, losing to the Sun Devils 1-6.

"We were disappointed with the outcome but not the effort," senior Brooke Taylor said. "We weren't effective against ASU. It only can get better for us. We took a lot of positive things out of the match."

UA's top two players - freshman Maja Mlakar and sophomore Debbie Larocque - lost their third consecutive match against the Sun Devils.

Mlakar began the season by winning four consecutive matches, which brought her national ranking to as high as No. 27.

But since winning her last match against Oregon two weeks ago, Mlakar hasn't been able to win one set in her last three matches.

Larocque has battled the same issue; she hasn't been able to win a set in her last three matches either.

It will show if Maes can find a way to bounce back after three-straight tough losses when the Wildcats travel to Texas this weekend to take on No. 18 Texas A&M today and No. 10 Texas on Sunday.