Men's tennis to battle Pac-10 foes after layoff

The UA men's tennis team will have its work cut out for it this weekend as it ends a three-week hiatus, facing off against two formidable Pacific-10 conference foes.

Arizona will open conference play this weekend, hosting Pac-10 rivals No. 3 UCLA and No. 19 Southern California. Despite being idle for nearly three weeks, the Wildcats still managed to jump five spots up to No. 46 in the most recent ITA rankings.

Earlier this month in the Wildcats' last competition, Arizona dropped two matches to another pair of west coast powerhouses, Stanford and California.

The Wildcats (5-6, 0-0 Pac-10) were swept earlier this season by the Bruins (7-0) and Trojans (6-1) during a California road trip on February 14 and 15.

- Christopher Wuensch

Spring football drills highlighted by defense

The Wildcat football team concluded its first weekend of spring practices on Sunday and will resume practice today at 4:30 p.m. on the practice field across from McKale Center. The team will be in pads for the first time this spring.

The first weekend of practice saw the instillation of the new 3-4 defense along with the debut of five new coaches.

"These coaches get along well," said head coach John Mackovic, who started his third year at the helm of the Wildcats. "They have been able to step in and pick up the pace. I'm pleased with the way they (have been working)."

The main focus of the first two days was the instillation of the new defense and some new plays on offense.

Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz is heading the addition of the new defensive scheme and said he has been pleased with the team's progress thus far.

"It's a lot of new things coming at them fast, but I have been pleased with the attitude and effort," said Hankwitz.

One thing that has changed immediately is the team's effort on defense.

"Defensively there is a lot more movement," said Mackovic. "We're spending a lot of time teaching, but are making sure everyone is moving to the football."

The Wildcats will hold their first scrimmage on Saturday at Arizona Stadium at 10 a.m. Although the scrimmage comes after just the first week of spring practices, Mackovic said it is important to get out there and compete early on. Saturday will be the Wildcats' sixth practice of the spring. The NCAA allows a program to hold just 15 off-season practices.

- Charles Renning

Women's tennis on road against SoCal schools

While the men's squad will be at home against UCLA and USC, the women's tennis team will travel to Southern California this weekend to take on two of the Pac-10's elite teams.

No. 12 UCLA on Friday and No. 4 Southern California on Saturday look to make life tough for an Arizona squad still searching for its first Pac-10 win. The Wildcats (5-7, 0-6 Pac-10) are coming off of a loss to conference rival Arizona State on Wednesday.

On Feb. 21, the Wildcats were blanked by the Trojans, 7-0, in Tucson. Two days later, Arizona rebounded strong but still fell short to the Bruins, 4-3.

After a trip to Washington State and Washington next weekend, the Wildcats will return home to face Texas on April 8.

- Christopher Wuensch