This Weekend: Arizona heads to San Diego for the San Diego State
Invitational this weekend, Oct. 8-10. The invitational includes players
from UC-Irvine, San Diego and San Diego State. The tournament includes two
of the top 25 tennis players in the nation, Zuzana Lesenarova (No. 1) and
Katarina Valkyova (No. 25), both from San Diego. Highlighting the doubles
competition is the No. 4- ranked team of Lesenarova and Valkyova as well as
the Wildcats duo of Lindsay Blau and Uzma Kahn, ranked 36th in the latest
ITA rankings.
The Lineup:
Name Yr. Hometown
Vanessa Abel Sr. Tucson, Arizona
Lindsay Blau So. Ossining, New York
Joanna Buczkowska Jr. Zakopane, Poland
Michelle Gough Jr. Johannesburg, South Africa
Laresa Marino So. San Diego, California
Carly Stringer So. Launton, Bicester, England
Brooke Taylor So. Newport Beach, California
Uzma Kahn Fr. Hyderabad, India
Siri Fomsgaard Fr. Copenhagen, Denmark
Last Season:The Wildcats finished the season with an 7-13 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to top ranked Florida, 5-1. The doubles team of Monique Allegre and Lindsay Blau advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Cats in the Polls: In the latest ITA preseason rankings, the duo of Lindsay
Blau and Uzma Kahn are ranked No. 36 in the nation. Team rankings will not
be released until later in the fall.
Head Coach: Brad Dancer begins his first year as head coach at Arizona
replacing Stephanie London. Dancer played No. 1 singles and doubles at
Michigan State, graduating with a degree in business in 1993. In his time
at Michigan State, Dancer was a four-time Academic All-Big Ten member and
was selected to the All-Big Ten team his senior year. Dancer's professional
coaching highlights include serving as an assistant for the 1996 Fed Cup
team.
Assistant Coaches: Kevin Epley and Vicky Maes round out the coaching staff
for the Wildcats this season. Epley comes to Arizona after serving as an
assistant last year at Alabama. In addition to his duties as assistant
coach, Epley is involved in coaching at the professional tennis level which
includes serving as an assistant for the Fed Cup team under head coach
Billie Jean King. Maes, a four-time tennis All-American, returns to Arizona
as a volunteer assistant. Maes graduated from Arizona in '98 but not before
becoming the most decorated player in the program's history. Two-time
Pac-10 Player of the Year, GTE All-American, and a selection to the Pac-10
All-Decade team are accolades that highlighted her decorated career at Arizona.
Next Match: The Wildcats are back at it next weekend when they travel out to
Ann Arbor, Mich. for the University of Michigan Invitational, Oct. 15-17.
