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UA Invitational begins new head coaches' reign

In his first match as a UA head coach, Brad Dancer looks to lead the women's tennis team through a tough non-conference tournament.

The Wildcats play host this weekend to the University of New Mexico, Kansas State University and the University of San Diego. All three teams could pose a threat to defeat UA.

Arizona holds the No. 31 ranking nationally , where it closed off last season.

UA looks to be led by their top-ranked singles player, freshman Uzma Kahn, who is ranked No. 101. The doubles tandem of junior Michelle Gough and sophomore Lindsay Blau has worked their way to a No. 8 ranking.

With no set lineup, Dancer is looking to try any and all players at the top spot.

"We have had a lot of decent performances so far," Dancer said. "So we are going to try a lot of different players at a lot of different spots."

Mixing up the lineups is one way the coaching staff is hoping to combat the difficult squads coming to visit.

"New Mexico has probably the strongest team from top to bottom," Dancer said. "KSU and San Diego are also tough. So we are hoping for a good all around performance from our team."

San Diego currently has the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked players in the nation, Zuzana Lesenarova and Katarina Valkyova. The two also pair up to be the No. 2 doubles team.

They should expect to face Gough and Blau, who defeated the duo at the San Diego State Invitational last October.

"They will be shooting for us but we have nothing to lose." Gough said.

This will be the second time in two years UA has faced the Kansas State Wildcats.

Last season Arizona was able to defeat KSU 7-2.

Kansas State is currently ranked No. 62, while San Diego is No. 29 and New Mexico is No. 27.

This meet marks the first for Dancer as a head coach. Dancer formerly was a player for Michigan State, where he graduated in 1993.

"Since this will be my first match as a coach there will be a little bit of nervous anxiety," Dancer said. "But (assistant head coach) Kevin Epley and I have an idea for what we want to do with the program so this is just the beginning."