TUCSON, Ariz. -- In day one of the Arizona Invitational, the No. 17 Arizona Wildcats (17-8) went 2-0 with two sweeps over Southern Mississippi and CSU Bakersfield. This is Arizona's first win over the USM Golden Eagles and their fifth sweep in a row over the CSUB Roadrunners. These wins signify their seventh and eighth sweep of the season.

The Cats earned their first sweep of the weekend, and first program win, against Southern Mississippi in their first match of the weekend. In a short defeat, the Cats were able to win all five points in two sets. Pair Annie Kost/Hope Shannon finished in a quick 21-14, 21-13 match to earn the Cats their first point of the duel. Sarah Blacker/Maja Kaiser finished close behind going 21-12, 21-15 on court two. The deciding point came from Abby Russell/Dana Parker on court three with a 21-18, 21-17 finish. Both Jasmine Safar/Dilara Gedikoglu and Alex Parkhurst/Alana Rennie fought hard to a 23-21 finish in set two but were able to finish it out to secure the sweep. 

Against the Roadrunners, the Cats made similarly quick work of winning the duel with with Russell/Parker finishing first 21-18, 21-18, Blacker/Kaiser finishing second 21-16, 21-16 and Safar/Gedikoglu deciding the match for Arizona with a 21-14, 21-14 finish. Pair Shannon/Kali fought in a long 27-25 second set but were able to pull out the fourth point. Parkhurst/Rennie completed the sweep in a three set battle where they fell 12-21 in the first but rallied back 22-20 in the second. The Wildcat sweep was decided with their final of 15-13 on court one.

UP NEXT
The Cats will be back tomorrow, April 16 for day two of the Arizona Invitational. The Wildcats will take on No. 11 Long Beach State at 9:00 a.m. MST and No. 7 GCU at 1:00 p.m. MST.

FULL RESULTS

#17 Arizona 5, Southern Miss 0

1. Alex Parkhurst/Alana Rennie (ARIZ) def. Breleigh Favre/Aleksandra Chudzik (USM) 21-9, 23-21
2. Sarah Blacker/Maja Kaiser (ARIZ) def. Vanessa Humikova/Kellie Garraway (USM) 21-12, 21-15
3. Jasmine Safar/Dilara Gedikoglu (ARIZ) def. Taylor Pierce/Olivia Hepworth (USM) 21-19, 23-21
4. Abby Russell/Dana Parker (ARIZ) def. Hallie Phelan/Valeria Siakidou (USM) 21-18, 21-17
5. Annie Kost/Hope Shannon (ARIZ) def. Carmen Sanchez/Kai Norman (USM) 21-14, 21-13
Order of finish: (5,2,4,1,3)

#17 Arizona 5, CSU Bakersfield 0

1. Alex Parkhurst/Alana Rennie (ARIZ) def. Cameron Solberg/Milica Vukobrat (CSUB) 12-21, 22-20, 15-13
2. Sarah Blacker/Maja Kaiser (ARIZ) def. Hana Makonova/Sophia Hladyniuk (CSUB) 21-16, 21-19
3. Jasmine Safar/Dilara Gedikoglu (ARIZ) def. Paige Calvin/Brooke Boiseau (CSUB) 21-14, 21-14
4. Abby Russell/Dana Parker (ARIZ) def. Seleisa Elisaia/Alaina Gendale (CSUB) 21-18, 21-18
5. Hope Shannon/Kali Uhl (ARIZ) def. Hayley McCluskey/Caroline Benke (CSUB) 21-18, 27-25
Order of finish: (4,2,3,5,1);