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Section Header
Tennis eyes post season

By Christopher Weunsch
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday April 4, 2003

When UA men's tennis takes the court this weekend, its postseason hopes may be on the line.

The 40th ranked Wildcats enter the weekend with 6-8 overall and 0-2 Pac-10 records, marks they must improve upon to earn a postseason berth.

UA's drive to extend its season will begin at home against two strong Pacific-10 conference opponents: No. 56 Oregon on Friday and No. 9 Washington on Saturday.

Arizona is coming off a much-needed victory over Northern Arizona on Wednesday. The win over the Lumberjacks ended a seven game losing skid for the Wildcats. Despite going winless in March, Arizona managed to rise in the national rankings, including an impressive jump of 11 spots during its two-week hiatus.

The rise in rankings can be attributed to the strength of schedule the Wildcats face. Saturday's match with UW will mark the fifth top-10 squad the Wildcats have faced this season.

"We need to win," said head coach Bill Wright. "A win against Washington would clinch it (a postseason berth)."

Wright said he feels his young squad needs a win this weekend versus either team if the Wildcats want to have a chance for a postseason opportunity.

After this weekend, Arizona will have only three remaining matches to make a postseason push, matches that promise not be easy, including a California trip to take on two of the Pac-10's elite teams, Stanford and California-Berkeley.

The balance of the men's season may rest on the injury of number one singles player Whi Kim. The junior from Pueblo, Colo. is nursing an abdominal strain suffered in last weekend's loss to Southern California. Kim, with a record of 5-7 on the season, joins fellow junior Carl Hagman as an elder statesman on the Wildcats' team.

Hagman, a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, stepped up his game in Kim's absence, improving his record to 5-8 overall after impressive wins against NAU and USC.

The Ducks (8-7) will also be vying for their first Pac-10 win. The match against Oregon will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at the Robson Tennis Center.

Washington remains one of the Pac-10's best, featuring two of the nation's top 20 players in No. 8 Alex Vlaksi and No.18 Matt Hanlin. The Huskies will be looking to start a new winning streak against the Wildcats after having their 14-game unbeaten streak snapped by both Stanford and California. Saturday's match versus the Huskies will start at 1 p.m. in Tucson.


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