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Pac-10 tournaments start today for Wildcats

By Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 22, 1999
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letters@wildcat.arizona.edu


[Picture]

Nicholas Valenzuela
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Freshman Lindsay Blau returns a ball during a match against UNLV earlier this year. The UA men's and women's tennis teams are in Ojai, Calif., where they are in the Pac-10 Championships.


The Arizona men's and women's tennis teams are headed to Ojai, Calif., for the annual Pacific 10 Conference individuals tournament. The tournament will bring an end to disappointing seasons for both teams, seasons which saw relatively young and inexperienced players struggle against some of the nation's best competition.

The women, led by freshman Lindsay Blau, will be matching up against some of the country's top programs in that the Pac-10 is home to three of the nation's top 10 teams: Stanford (2), California (5), and UCLA (6). Southern Cal is ranked No. 11 and Arizona State, the team that defeated the Wildcats 7-2 Saturday, is ranked No. 14.

The story of this Wildcat season, however, has been the surprising play of Blau.

"She's just amazing," fellow freshman Laresa Marino said. "To be so good despite being a freshman is a heck of an accomplishment."

Blau, playing at the No. 1 singles position, has been on fire lately. Last Saturday, in a pivotal season-ending match against ASU, Blau fought one of the nation's top freshmen, Sun Devil ace Allison Bradshaw (No. 31 in the nation), eventually losing 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

"The way she played Ally was unbelievable," Marino said. "It was a real coming of age for her."

Blau opens play today in singles against Washington State's Tamara Filipovic. The last Wildcat to place in the Ojai tournament was Vicky Maes, who took runner-up in singles in 1997.

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The men, led by No. 1-ranked singles player Adnan Novo, also head to Ojai today to end a season that has seen Novo carry an otherwise lackluster team.

"We're not that worried about Ojai," head coach Bill Wright said. "We just want our guys to go in there and work their tails off."

Only six Wildcats will be competing in this year's tournament.

Novo, like his female counterpart in Blau, has been one of the few highpoints on a young team. The Wildcats (7-12 overall), have been hit with hard times lately, the most recent being a crushing 7-1 loss to ASU last Saturday in Tucson. Novo, a transfer student from Bosnia via Pima Community College, won both of the matches leading to the Wildcats' lone point.

"Adnan was just on," Wright said. "He's really starting to develop into a solid player."

The Pac-10 is a solid conference, with UCLA owning the top spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, while Stanford is No. 10. By comparison, the Wildcats are currently at No. 54 in the ITA rankings and Novo, the team's top player, is at No. 100.

The only Wildcat with experience against his first round opponent is freshman Caleb Marquardt, who defeated California's Hiro Nakamura 3-6, 6-0, 6-4, in their last meeting, March 27 in Tucson.

In its 99th year, the Ojai Pac-10 Tournament is the longest running amateur tournament in the country.

Ryan Finley can be reached at Ryan.Finley@wildcat.arizona.edu