Soccer ends season with two losses in Bay Area

In its final match of the 2002 season, the University of Arizona women's soccer team was shutout by No. 1 Stanford, 6-0, in Palo Alto on Sunday.

The loss came on the heels of a 4-1 defeat at California Friday in severe weather conditions.

The Wildcats finished the season at 6-12-1 overall and 1-8-0 in Pac-10 play, while Stanford is 18-1-0 overall and a perfect 9-0-0 in conference action, claiming the 2002 Pac-10 title. This is the first time in nine years of Arizona soccer that the Wildcats have played a No. 1-ranked team.

It was a rough first half for the Wildcats. The Cardinal scored its first goal at 1:45 and never looked back. They struck again at 8:25, and then dented the net three more times in an 11-minute span late in the period. Junior midfielder Lindsey Greenwood had Arizona's first shot of the game during the 20th minute, Stanford led, 5-0, at halftime.

The Cats had two shots for the match, both on-goal. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Natalie Juarez played the entire 90 minutes in-goal for the Wildcats, tallying seven saves.

Arizona ends the season with six wins, surpassing last year's total of five and logging the most wins since the 1999 team had seven. The Wildcats set or tied 17 school records this year, including most goals in a season (37), most assists (32) and most total points (106).

Hollands wins singles and doubles titles at Desert Classic

The Arizona women's tennis team completed play last weekend at the Fall Desert Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.

Sophomore Dianne Hollands claimed the singles crown, and Hollands teamed up with sophomore Kelly Perry to win the doubles title Sunday.

In singles action, No. 1-seeded junior Debbie Larocque was upset in the quarterfinal by UCLA's Jackie Carelton, 7-5, 6-2.

In the consolation bracket, Perry advanced to the final round after her semifinals opponent, USC's Melissa Esmero, retired because of an injury. Perry went on to win the consolation bracket by defeating UCLA's Sarah Gregg, 7-6, 6-2.

In main singles, Hollands won her quarterfinal match by defeating Stephanie Balzert of Baylor, 6-2, 6-2 then upset No. 2-seeded Kendra Strohm of Texas in the semifinals, 6-0, 6-2.

In Saturday's doubles action, Hollands and Perry defeated USC's Tiffany Brymer and Anita Loyola, 8-6, in the quarterfinal, then downed an LMU duo 8-2 in the semis.

In the final round of singles play Sunday, Hollands defeated UCLA's Jackie Carelton, 6-1, 6-3, to win the singles title.

In the doubles final, Hollands and Perry competed against USC's Melissa Esmero and Maureen Diaz. Arizona took the first match, 9-8, and won the tiebreaker, 7-1, to claim the doubles title.

The Fall Desert Classic marked the final fall tournament for the women's tennis team. The Wildcats will be back in action for the regular season starting Jan. 17, 2003, at the Pac-10 Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash.

Women's golf ranked No. 1 in final fall poll

Arizona's women's golf team is rated first in the final fall edition of the Golfweek/Sagarin performance index. The Wildcats, with top-five finishes in each of its four tournaments, are led by freshman Erica Blasberg who is rated second individually.

The Wildcats have a rating of 72.34 to position itself ahead of second-rated Oklahoma State, which sits at 72.48. Auburn, Vanderbilt and Duke round out the top five, respectively.

Blasberg, who owns a performance rating of 70.34, trails only Pepperdine's Katherine Hull. Blasberg closed the fall season with five consecutive rounds of par or better to bring her stroke average to 72.25. The 5-foot-6-inch freshman from Corona, Calif., won her first career title at the Stanford-Pepsi Intercollegiate to become the 17th woman in Arizona history to win an individual title.

Arizona closed its fall season on a high note as it posted its best 54-hole team score at the Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational, the fall's final event. Among the nation's toughest competition, the Wildcats placed third with a score of 882 (+18).

The Wildcats begin the spring portion of the schedule on Feb. 10 at the TRW Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

Men's golf finishes third

The Arizona men's golf team defeated Texas Christian, 3-2, to claim third place Sunday at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship at the Dye Course at Barefoot Resort.

Led by freshman Blaine Peffley, Arizona won at the second, third and fifth positions to clinch the match over sixth-seeded TCU and finish third in the field of 16.

Peffley used a quick start to defeat TCU's Colby Beckstrom, 4 and 3. He won four of the first six holes in the match en route to his third win in the tournament. Peffley, who finished with a 3-0-1 record, was the only Wildcat player to finish the event undefeated.

Teammates Chris Nallen and Reid Hatley also came through with wins Sunday. Nallen defeated David Schultz, 5 and 3, while Hatley downed J.J. Killeen, 2-up, to give fifth-seed Arizona the three points it needed for victory.

Senior Ricky Barnes lost 3 and 2 to Adam Rubinson and Andy Connell lost 5 and 4 to Stephen Polanski to close the scoring.

Second-seed Augusta State defeated top-seed Clemson, 3-2, to win the event.