April 14, 2012
TUCSON, Ariz. -
Arizona's No. 29-ranked women's tennis team (14-8, 4-5) concluded a successful weekend after defeating No. 43 Utah (10-10, 2-7) 7-0 on Saturday at Robson Tennis Center. The Wildcats swept the weekend after earning a 7-0 victory over Colorado on Friday and extending their home-court winning streak to 12-0 on the season.
Arizona won the doubles point once again after fighting at every position. Sophomore Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.) and senior Natasha Marks (Nottingham, England) survived two Utah match points, but fell to Putilina and Craig in an 8-6 decision at the No. 1 spot.
Senior Sarah Landsman (Syosset, N.Y.) and freshman Hailey Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) came back from a 4-1 deficit to defeat Flores and Smith in a tiebreaker at No. 2 doubles, while sophomores Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland) and Kim Stubbe (Mol, Belgium) fought off a late match run to earn a win over Kovarcikova and Pham to secure the point for UA.
“Even though we felt strong going into today's match, we did not expect to get such a decisive win,” Arizona head coach Vicky Maes said. “Utah is a solid team and they compete well. We played a little passive in the doubles, but luckily wound up with the point.”
In singles play, all six Wildcats came out firing and each earned a win at their respective positions. Landsman, Marks and freshman Laura Oldham (Sheffield, England) were the first to finish, all defeating their opponents in straight sets and sealing the win for Arizona.
Mc Rann, Stubbe and Smyth were not far behind in their victories, giving the Wildcats their second-consecutive match in which they left their opponents scoreless.
“The scare in the doubles gave us the wake-up call we needed to be better prepared for singles play,” Maes said. “I felt everyone did a really good job competing. Utah didn't give us many free points so we had to really battle.”
The Wildcats will defend their season's home-court undefeated streak and look to earn a Territorial Cup point when they host No. 30 Arizona State on Friday, April 20 at 1 p.m.
The match will mark the last home competition for seniors Debora Castany (Barcelona, Spain), Marks and Landsman. In addition, Arizona will host a Zona Zoo Day and encourage its fans to wear red for a “red out.”
For complete results and continued coverage of Arizona Women's Tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com.
COMPLETE RESULTS
Arizona 7, Utah 0
Robson Tennis Center
Arizona (14-8, 4-5)
Utah (10-10, 2-7)
DOUBLES
No. 1 Putilina/Craig (Utah) def. Smyth/Marks (Arizona), 8-6
No. 2 Landsman/Johnson (Arizona) def. Flores/Smith (Utah), 9-8 (1)
No. 3 Stubbe/Mc Rann (Arizona) def. Kovarcikova/Pham (Utah), 8-6
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
SINGLES
No. 1 Lacey Smyth (Arizona) def. Anastasia Putilinia (Utah), 7-6, 6-3
No. 2 Natasha Marks (Arizona) def. Sarah Pham (Utah), 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Kim Stubbe (Arizona) def. Callie Craig (Utah), 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Sarah Landsman (Arizona) def. Danielle Flores (Utah), 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 Susan Mc Rann (Arizona) def. Lucia Kovarcikova (Utah), 6-2, 3-6, 10-8
No. 6 Laura Oldham (Arizona) def. Natasha Smith (Utah), 6-0, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 6*, 5, 3, 1
