Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Arizona unable to upset rival Sun Devils

UA finishes season with 3rd straight Pac-10 loss

The Arizona women's tennis team continued its struggles versus ranked opponents Saturday, as they fell to No. 9 Arizona State, 8-1, in the final match of the regular season.

The UA ended its season with a 9-11 overall record and 3-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference but were only 8-11 versus ranked opponents.

Coming in, the Sun Devils (11-7 overall, 3-4 Pac-10) were considered the favorite, as they beat the Wildcats earlier in the season 9-0.

"All sports between Arizona and us are always competitive, and it is the same in tennis," ASU head coach Sheila McInerney said. "This is a good rivalry because each team has great pride in their program."

On the center court, Arizona's top ranked player, sophomore Lindsay Blau -No. 73 in the nation - faced the No. 15 sophomore Allison Bradshaw in one of the great matches of the day.

The first set was filled with consistent tennis, as each player held serve, which led to a first set tie-breaker.

Blau was dominant in the beginning of the tie-breaker as she had two set points, but she was unable to win as Bradshaw's experience took over with a 7-5, (10-8) first set victory.

"Allison is our No. 1 player, and she is used to big matches," McInerney said. "She has a lot of firepower, and it showed today."

The last two points that Bradshaw won were controversial as it appeared that two of her shots were clearly out.

Blau's anger was shown with her verbal disgust at the official and hitting her racquet on the ground.

She lost her cool, and with it, she lost the match, with a 1-6 second-set defeat.

The loss was demoralizing to the Wildcats, as they had already lost three other singles matches.

Wildcat senior Vanessa Abel played the last singles match of the day, and a loss to Sun Devil junior Karin Palme would clinch the meet for ASU before the doubles matches even began.

Abel won the first 7-5 but lost a tough second set 6-3.

The third set was the decisive set of the competition, and the intensity was felt throughout the players and the crowd.

"We have a really close team, and their cheering showed the support they have for each other," Arizona head coach Brad Dancer said of his team's rallying behind Abel.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Palme won the third set 6-4, clinching the meet for the Sun Devils.

"We were really fired up to beat them, but we came up a little bit short," junior Joanna Buczkowski said. "But everyone is still playing really good tennis."

This loss dropped the Wildcats into sixth place in the Pac-10.

"We have not played in a lot of close matches, and it showed today, as we could not pull off the close ones," Dancer said. "Today will only make our team better."