This Weekend: Arizona wraps up its Fall season this weekend, Nov. 11-14, at
the ITA Regionals in Irvine, Calif. The Wildcats are one of 14 teams
competing in this weekend's tournament that includes UCLA, USC, Pepperdine,
Arizona State, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State,
Northridge, Loyola Marymount, UNLV, San Diego, San Diego State, and host
school UC Irvine. These 14 teams are competing in one of the 17 ITA
Regionals around the country that will span a three-week period. One
hundred one singles players and 48 doubles teams will competing in the
tournament. The winner of both brackets will advance to the 2000 Rolex
National Indoor Championships in Dallas, Feb. 3-6, the third leg of the ITA
Grand Slam. The tournament kicks off at 9 a.m MST on Thursday with
singles play while doubles competition is set to begin Thursday at 3 p.m.
MST. The regional concludes Monday with the singles championship at 10 a.m
MST which will be immediately followed by the doubles championship.
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
Michigan Invitational: Freshman Uzma Khan's performance highlighted the
weekend for the Wildcats capturing the singles title of her bracket. Khan
capped off the tournament with a victory over Texas A&M's Leah Killen, 6-0,
4-6, 6-4 for the title. Sophomores Laresa Marino and Carly Stringer
highlighted Arizona's doubles play winning all three of their matches on
the weekend. Sophomore Lindsay Blau and junior Michelle Gough notched an
impressive victory over Texas A&M's No. 1 duo of Lisa Dingwall and Martina
Nedorostova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Dingwall and Nedorostova went undefeated at the
recently-played College World Team Tennis Games held in Palo Alto, Calif.
Sudden Impact: Khan's success at the Michigan Invitational is indicative
her Fall season thus far. An 9-1 start and two singles titles highlight
the season. Khan last competed two weeks ago at the Bulldog Classic in
Fresno, Calif., where she advanced to the quarterfinal round before falling
to the eventual tournament champion, Kim Niggemeyer of Fresno State.
Last Season: Arizona finished the season with an overall record of 8-14
placing them sixth in the Pac-10 Conference. The Wildcats advanced to the
second round of the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by top-ranked
Florida.
Cats in the Polls: In the 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 at Arizona, Epley
is involved in coaching at the professional tennis level including serving
as an assistant for the Fed Cup team under head coach Billie Jean King.
Maes, a four-time tennis All-American, returns to her alma mater as a
volunteer assistant. Maes graduated from Arizona in '98 but not before
becoming the most decorated player in the program's history. Maes was a
two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, a GTE All-American, and was selected to
the Pac-10 All-Decade team.
