By Steve Fanucchi
Arizona Daily Wildcat
As the UA men's tennis team traveled to the Bay Area for two Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division matches, its members were struck with the thought that they need to get at least one victory to keep their hopes for a postseason berth alive.
The Wildcats not only came up short of a victory this past weekend, they got swept by No. 1-ranked Stanford (15-0) and No. 21 Cal (8-2 overall, 1-1 in the Pac-10).
The Wildcats knew their battle would be a tough one, as they would have to be without the play of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's 16th-ranked singles player, Jan Anderson (playing in the Davis Cup), and the hot play of 13-8 Edward Schwartz (out because of illness), who has posted seven victories in his last nine dual matches.
Anderson and Schwartz are the only two current players for the Wildcats that have a record above the .500 mark and they are one and two on the team in victories. Anderson has 23 and Schwartz has 13.
"Since Eddie was sick that made it really rough and we need to get Jan back," UA head coach Bill Wright said.
Friday, the Wildcats vied for their first conference victory in five tries in a match against Cal, which was playing its second conference match.
The nation's eighth-ranked doubles team of Michael Hill and Bobby Mahal posted the Bears' first victory by defeating Sten Sumberg and Roland Kupka 8-3, and the Bears never really looked back, grabbing a 7-0 win.
Sumberg took another blow since his return from a sore knee, as he was defeated by Hill in singles 6-3, 6-3.
"Sten was a little rusty and that is expected," Wright said.
The Bears then set their sights on their first conference victory, as Mahal defeated James Rey at the No. 4 position 6-1, 6-0.
The Bears lead the series over the Wildcats 25-7 and have now won two straight against the UA.
Saturday, the UA lost to the undefeated Cardinal.
Stanford swept Arizona Ä handing the Wildcats their second sweep in as many days. The Cardinal's four ranked players all won as did the rest of the team as Arizona was denied a single point on the day.
Jenkins, who had been playing hot of late, was ousted in straight sets by 16th-ranked Scott Humphries 6-1, 6-2. Jenkins' current record stands at 8-10.
Seventh-ranked Jeff Salzenstein defeated Sumberg 6-2, 6-3. Sumberg now posts a dual match record of 5-8 with an overall record of 6-10.
Enfield got a taste of the ITA's 38th-ranked player, freshman Paul Goldstein. Enfield lost in a three-set battle 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Rey played the No. 4 spot and was defeated by No. 46 Jim Thomas 6-1, 6-3.
The Cardinal swept all three doubles matches as well. Stanford's freshman tandem of Humphries and Goldstein, ranked second, defeated Sumberg and Kupka 8-3 for their 31st collegiate win.
The Cardinal have now won six straight matches against Arizona dating back to March 1992.
The 31st-ranked Wildcats has been through the tough part of their season, but their record shows it at 4-11, winless in the conference.
Said Wright: "We knew it would be hard but we will be ready to play Wednesday."