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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Wildcats struggle against Stanford and Cal

Arizona+womens+tennis+athletes+Lauren+Marker+and+Shayne+Austin+high+five+during+their+6-4+win+against+the+University+of+San+Diego+on+Feb.+12.+The+Wildcats+lost+their+perfect+at+home+record+with+a+5-2+loss+against+Stanford.
Nick Smallwood
Arizona women’s tennis athletes Lauren Marker and Shayne Austin high five during their 6-4 win against the University of San Diego on Feb. 12. The Wildcats lost their perfect at home record with a 5-2 loss against Stanford.

For the first time this season, the Arizona women’s tennis team went an entire weekend without a victory.

The Wildcats started off Pac-12 Conference play with an 0-2 record after losing to both Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley this weekend.

Arizona’s performance was a rather forgetful one, as only junior Lauren Marker was able to win and give Arizona a point.

Marker showed why she is a nationally ranked player this weekend, besting both of her opponents on Friday and Saturday.

Arizona head coach Vicky Maes missed the match against Stanford becasue of the birth of her child.

“Lauren has her priorities in such a way, that she is going to [do] whatever it takes to win, no matter how good the competition is,” Maes said.

Maes was critical of her team’s effort and inability to challenge both Cal and Stanford.

“The girls are so satisfied with just being close, they never want to cross over that bridge,” Maes said. “But they don’t believe they can win and that’s what holds [us] back.”

Something that may be more concerning is that these losses are not complete shockers in a conference like the Pac-12, where nearly everyone is ranked. A lot of matches will be tough for Arizona to win, but these past two matches showed the Wildcats’ sluggishness and their inability to compete in doubles and against top-tier talent.

The Wildcats, however, are still a talented team. As they are young, this is a learning process.

But the road only gets more difficult from here, as the team travels to Salt Lake City to face off against Utah next weekend. Utah is yet another team that is highly ranked in national polls.

Maes will likely keep the same lineup for this match, but if more losses begin to follow, this team might need a major lineup change.

Kinga Gartner did not play against neither Stanford nor California, but she is still a talented player on the roster. Only time will tell moving forward if she makes her way back to the starting lineup.


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