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UA men pull off upset against Golden Bears

Women swept by Stanford, Cal.

Facing tough California schools this weekend, the UA men's and women's tennis teams came away with different results as they begin preparation for the NCAA regionals.

On Friday, the UA men's team (9-10 overall, 2-5 Pacific 10 Conference) won its biggest match of the season against No. 35 California (11-7, 1-5), a win that kept their NCAA regional hopes alive.

"We're trying to get to regionals and needed to win to qualify," Marquardt said.

UA junior Alex Aybar began his flawless weekend with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the top position, and sophomore Michel Stopa's 6-1, 4-6, 3-2 (retired) win, along with freshman Tom Lloyd's 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory, capped off singles play as the Wildcats won four out of six singles matches against the Golden Bears.

Clinching the doubles point for Arizona were wins by the duos of senior Alex Brown and Lloyd, and Aybar and junior Brian Jackson.

Some players said one key to the team's 5-2 victory was decreasing practice time this week from three to two hours.

"(The lack of practice) gets us physically and mentally prepared," sophomore Caleb Marquardt said.

Even with the momentum gained from the California upset, the Wildcats were unable to overcome to No. 1 Stanford (20-0, 7-0), as they lost 5-2 on Saturday at Robson Tennis Center.

The score wasn't indicative of the overall match, however, as No. 71 Arizona (9-10, 2-5) refused to allow the top-ranked Cardinal to dominate them.

Aybar scored his most impressive win of the season as he defeated No. 3 Alex Kim 6-3, 6-2.

"He had a lot better ground strokes, along with his serve and return," Marquardt said of Aybar's play.

In doubles play, Stanford swept all three closely contested matches, with the Wildcat duo of senior Jean-Noel LaCoste and Stopa losing to Geoff Abrams and Kim, 8-5 in the No. 1 position.

Unlike the men's team, the UA women's tennis team was unable to pull an upset as they suffered two straight road losses in California.

On Friday, No. 8 California (16-5, 6-1) had an easy victory against No. 18 Arizona (9-9, 3-3), 8-0.

No. 35 Anita Kurimay slipped past No. 73 UA sophomore Lindsey Blau 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, and Morisa Yang followed with a close 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (6) upset of No. 88 Arizona freshman Uzma Kahn.

It didn't get any better for the Wildcats on Saturday as No. 1 Stanford (22-0, 6-0) continued its season-long winning streak with a 7-1 defeat of Arizona.

Scoring the lone point for UA was Kahn, who registered a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win.

Even with the losses, the Arizona players were pleased with the effort they gave on the road.

"Even though we lost, everyone played really hard and had good matches," junior Joanna Buczkowska said. "We're looking forward to regionals, we're really fired up to beat ASU (this weekend)."