CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Wildcat Sophomore Maja Mlakar knocks a return yesterday during No. 16 UA's loss to Oregon. The match was rescheduled from Friday due to rain.

With almost three weeks between matches and a week of no practice due to recent heavy rain, the Arizona women's tennis team faced the tough challenge of beginning its Pacific 10 Conference season a bit rusty.

The rust was apparent.

The No. 16 Wildcats (2-1 overall, 0-1 Pac-10) were upset 3-4 by Oregon, marking the first loss of the season for the UA.

Arizona's match with Oregon was scheduled for Friday, but because of rain, it was postponed until Sunday.

Due to the postponement, Oregon took the court Saturday against ASU.

The Sun Devils defeated the Ducks, but UA head coach Vicky Maes said Oregon's ability to gain some extra court time was a huge advantage.

"It was definitely a big advantage," Maes said. "We weren't able to practice all week because of the rain, and they have had a chance to compete more then we have. Still, there are no excuses."

The match was close to the end and it came down to the last match of the afternoon between UA sophomore Dianne Hollands and Oregon's Courtney Nagle.

Hollands was unable to pull out the victory, handing the Ducks the 3-4 upset.

"I am very disappointed," Maes said. "We didn't come to battle. I don't know if the time had anything to do with that. Oregon wanted more, but I feel that this is a team that we should have beaten handily."

The Wildcats have no time to feel down about being upset at home, as they play host this weekend to No 3. Southern California and ninth ranked UCLA ·

The 47th-ranked UA (5-2, 0-2) men's tennis team began the season by winning five of its first six matches, including two upsets on the road against ranked opponents.

Despite high hopes of pulling a few more upsets this past weekend, the Wildcats were beaten handily by No. 15 USC and top-ranked UCLA.

The Wildcats came out on Friday with high spirits and determination to defeat the defending national champions, but the Trojans scorched UA 1-6.

"We had a lot of confidence playing USC," Arizona head coach Bob Helmig said. "We felt that we could pull the upset. When play began, we were not as sharp as we were in other matches this year. The team was very disappointed in the outcome."

The Wildcats didn't have long to sulk over their defeat, as they had to regroup and prepare to take on UCLA.

Arizona came out and battled hard against the Bruins, but the top-ranked team in the country was too much for the Wildcats. UCLA won every singles match en route to a 7-0 victory.

Helmig said that the score was not telling of the competition because UA was able to stay close early in each match.

"Beating UCLA at their place is tough," Helmig said. "We were able to get a lot out of the losses this weekend. We know what we have to work on. We will get another chance at these guys at our place."

I am very disappointed. We didn't come to battle · I feel that this is a team we should have beaten handily. - Vicky Maes UA head coach