TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats put their final touches on an undefeated 4-0 weekend in the Arizona Invitational after taking down The University of Northern Florida and New Mexico, both by a score of 4-1, on Saturday at Bear Down Beach.
"I was really happy about how our group turned around," said head coach
Steve Walker. "Anytime you play your rival, there is always a worry from a head coaches standpoint about an emotional let down. I thought we did a good job this morning against North Florida and really rallied well against a determined New Mexico team. Overall, I am really pleased with the weekend, and looking forward to what is ahead for us."
The Cats' started out the day with an 11 a.m. match against North Florida. Senior
Mia Mason and junior
Olivia Hallaran bested UNF's Brittany Pase and Chaney Howard 21-15, 21-15 on court one for the Wildcats' first point of the match. Graduate student
Ainise Havili and freshman
Dana Parker brought the Cats' within one point of victory with a 21-12, 21-16 win on court five over Blaire Register and Carolyn Cain. Graduate student
Madison Rigdon and junior
Natalie Anselmo secured the match for the Wildcats with a 21-13, 21-19 victory over Antonia Harrison and Lauren Galinis.
After a respite, the Wildcats were back in action, this time against the University of New Mexico. The freshmen duo of
Sarah Blacker and
Jasmine Safar got Arizona on the board with a 21-5, 21-12 win against UNM's Abbey Wilson and Emily Nenninger on court four. Anselmo and Rigdon continued their strong play on court two, besting UNM's Yasmine Tran and Morgan Schreckler (21-15, 21-10) not long before sophomore
Jonny Baham and junior
Brooke Burling secured the crucial third point for the Wildcats with a 23-21, 19-21, 15-4 victory.
The Wildcats are now 10-2 on the season with a 2-2 record in conference play. The team will have slightly under a week to prepare for next Friday's matches in Tallahassee, Fla. where they are scheduled to take on Florida State, Stetson, and Austin Peay State.
Arizona Invitational Results
Friday, March 15th
New Mexico vs. ULM |
BOX SCORE (PDF)
UNF vs. ASU |
BOX SCORE (PDF)
No. 15 Arizona vs. ULM | BOX SCORE (PDF) *
New Mexico vs. UNF |
BOX SCORE (PDF) *
No. 15 Arizona vs. Arizona State | BOX SCORE (PDF) *
Saturday, March 16th
ULM vs. UNF |
BOX SCORE (PDF)
New Mexico vs. ASU |
BOX SCORE (PDF)
No. 15 Arizona vs. UNF | BOX SCORE (PDF)
ASU vs. ULM |
BOX SCORE (PDF)
No. 15 Arizona vs. New Mexico | BOX SCORE (PDF)
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