Jan. 23, 2010

TUCSON--The Arizona women's tennis season kicked off their spring schedule with a 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara.

The Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 Pac-10), started off strong with a win in all three doubles matches. In the No. 1 position, sophomore Natasha Marks and freshman Alexandrina Naydenova defeated UCSB's Natalia Lozano and Jordan Dockendorf 8-4. Sophomore Sarah Landsman and senior Claire Rietsch won the No. 2 game 8-5 over Bryanna Ojeda and Asagi Onaga, and senior Ariane Masschelein and junior Jane Huh defeated Tova Hausman and Sofia Novak 8-7 in position 3.

The Gauchos' (0-2, 0-0 Big West) only win in singles was in the No. 1 position where Novak defeated No. 46 Marks 0-6, 2-6. Arizona's first singles win of the day came on court five, where Rietch defeated Dockendorf 7-5, 6-1.

In the No. 2 position, Landsman took down Lozano 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, and Masschelein, in the No. 3 position, clinched the win for the Wildcats when she defeated Onaga 6-4, 6-3.

Sophomore Debora Castany defeated Hausman 7-6, 5-7, 10-8 in the No. 6 position, and to finish off the day, Naydenova defeated UCSB's Annabel Gledden 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 4 position.

"Today's win was a true team win." Said head coach Vicky Maes, "Everyone did a great job pulling out tough doubles and then keeping it together in singles. UCSB is a solid team and we really needed to play well. This is a promising start and I was very proud of our team."

Up next, the Wildcats will match up against UC Davis on Sunday, January 24 at 9am at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.

Complete Results:

Doubles

1. Marks/Naydenova UA def. Lozano/Dockendorf (UCSB) 8-4

2. Landsman/Rietsch UA def. Ojeda/Onaga (UCSB) 8-5

3. Masschelein/Huh UA def. Hausman/Novak (UCSB) 8-7

Order: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. Novak UCSB def. No. 46 Marks UA 0-6, 2-6

2. Landsman UA def. Lozano UCSB 7-6 (10-8), 6-3

3. Masschelein UA def. Onaga UCSB 6-4, 6-3*

4. Naydenova UA def. Gledden UCSB 1-6, 6-2, 6-1

5. Rietsch UA def. Dockendorf UCSB 7-5, 6-1

6. Castany UA def. Hausman UCSB 7-6, 5-7, 10-8

Order: 1, 5, 2, 3, 6, 4

* Clinched Victory