Women earn weekend split

The fifth-ranked Arizona women's tennis team once again managed a split in its matches with No. 4 UCLA and No. 24 Southern Cal over the weekend in Los Angeles.

They lost to UCLA, 5-1 on Friday but rebounded with a 5-4 win over the Trojans the next day.

The Wildcats (8-5 overall, 2-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) had the same results last month when the teams came to Tucson.

The Bruins (7-3, 2-1) clinched the win in singles play, where they won five matches.

Since the last meeting between the teams, Arizona's doubles game has changed considerably.

"I thought if the match went into doubles, we had a great chance because I'm more confident with our doubles than the last time we played them," UA head coach Becky Bell said. "We really thought we could beat UCLA."

The Wildcats salvaged the split by beating Southern Cal (4-8, 0-4), but the Trojans made the Wildcats work a bit harder for the win.

With the match tied at four, the doubles team of seniors Vicky Maes and Khristen Pietrucha battled Ditta Huber and Pam Trump to decide the match.

The Arizona doubles combination won the set, 8-4 to give the Wildcats the win.