With summertime approaching, the Arizona women's tennis team prepares itself for the NCAA championships to be held from May 13-16. The draws will be announced on today at 3:00 on ESPNews.
"We're just hoping that we get selected," said assistant coach Petar Danolic. I'll be surprised if we don't, given our strength of schedule. We're still not a hundred percent sure that we get in."
Arizona finished the season ranked No. 40 and tied for sixth in the Pacific 10 Conference, in front of ASU and Washington State. The Wildcats ended the season on a positive note by beating ASU for the second time this season and hope that win will give them momentum for the NCAA championships. Arizona's best win this season came against New Mexico.
Last year, the Wildcats went to Boston to play in the regionals, but this year, some of the girls are hoping to stay closer to home. According to Danolic, staying closer to home would help the girls that will compete in the individual championships.
In the Pac-10 championships, junior Diane Hollands reached the semifinals, while Hollands, along with junior Maja Mlakar, reached the semifinals of the doubles tournament. Because the entire team played in either the invitational tournament or the main draw, everyone was able to get experience before they enter team play in the NCAAs.
"We hope we get in and we hope for some good matches," Danolic said.