CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Filling in for injured Whi Kim, junior Carl Hagman leads the charge as Arizona drops Utah to go to 5-1.

Whi Kim and Roeland Brateanu were roommates and best friends two years ago during their freshman tennis season at Arizona.

Now their friendship exists, but they are no longer teammates.

Brateanu left UA last season to pursue his collegiate tennis career at Utah.

With Utah in town to face the Wildcats yesterday, Kim was set to take center court and play against his friend and former teammate in the featured match of the afternoon.

With the match set to begin, Kim pulled out with a strained arch in his foot, and UA head coach Bill Wright was forced to move everyone one spot up in the rotation.

"It would have been fun to play against Roeland," Kim said. "We were roommates in the dorms, and I was really looking forward to this match. But you have to look at the big picture. We knew we were going to beat these guys, and we did not want to risk anything. I could have played if we were playing USC or UCLA."

Despite not having their No. 1 player, the Wildcats (5-1) cruised to a 6-1 win over the Utes.

"It was a big win for us," Wright said. "There is a difference from winning and controlling a match. We came out aggressive and sharp. We controlled the match from the start."

With Kim out, junior Carl Hagman stepped into the No. 1 spot for the Wildcats and faced off against Brateanu.

Hagman came out aggressive and jumped on Brateanu early taking the first set 6-3.

Brateanu put up a fight early in the second set, but eventually fell 6-2, completing the straight sets sweep for Hagman.

Wright said it was nice for the team to have a chance to play against their former teammate.

"I love Roland," Wright said. "I was sorry that he left our program. It was a good experience for everyone."

The Wildcats went on to win five of the six singles matches as well as the doubles point.

Without Kim, each Wildcat stepped up his play, which pleased sophomore Paul Warkentin.

"We came out and played hard," Warkentin said. "They are a tough team, and we came out and jumped on them early. We are a deep team, and when our five and six guys move up, there is really no drop off."

The Wildcats have started off strong this season, but the real test comes this weekend as they travel to Los Angeles to take on No. 1 UCLA and No. 14 USC, who are the defending national champions.