The 2014-15 season was a roller coaster ride for the Wildcats. An early injury to freshman Hanna Sohn left Arizona with just six healthy players on the roster, which is the minimum amount of players required to compete in a match. Sophomore Lauren Marker, senior Briar Preston, senior Laura Oldham, freshman Devin Chypyha and juniors Shayne Austin and Inge Hendrikx stepped up and were all able to compete in every single match.
The Wildcats finished the season ranked No. 66 in the country and were placed in the ITA national rankings in every week this season. Arizona posted a 13-8 overall record and a 3-7 mark in the loaded Pac-12. UA finished with a record of 5-4 at home, 8-4 on the road and 2-7 against nationally ranked opponents.
The Wildcats began things on a high note by winning their first four matches of the season against New Mexico State, Nevada, Sacramento State and No. 65 BYU by a combined score of 23-3. On the first road trip of the season, San Diego State took down Arizona by a score of 5-2, but that clearly set a fire under the Wildcats, as they went on to win their next nine matches. Of those nine victories, eight of them came on the road.
After winning their first three Pac-12 contests, which included a victory against No. 47 Colorado, they lost their next seven to some of the best teams in the country. Those teams include third-ranked Cal, 13th-ranked Stanford, top-ranked USC and fourth-ranked UCLA. Three of those teams made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships and two of them made it all the way to the semifinals.
When the regular season ended, all six of the Wildcats ventured to Ojai, Calif. to compete in the Pac-12 Championships.
In the championship singles bracket, Marker advanced to the round of 16 in the championship bracket but lost to 51st-ranked Jennifer Brady of UCLA and Preston was defeated in the round of 32 by Elianne Douglas-Miron. Chypyha made it all the way to the quarterfinals but eventually lost to No. 96 Kaitlin Ray of UCLA and Hendrikx lost in the round of 32 to 92nd-ranked Karla Popovic of Cal.
In the championship doubles bracket, the duo of Preston/Austin made it all the way to the quarterfinals, but lost to No. 18 Ellen Tsay/Caroline Doyle of Stanford. In the invitational doubles bracket, the duo of Oldham/Chypyha lost to Alexandra Osborne/Leighann Sahagun of Arizona State in the round of 16.
After that, three Wildcats were selected to participate in the NCAA Individual Championships. Marker was selected to compete in the singles portion, while Preston/Austin were selected to compete in the doubles portion.
Marker dropped her first round match against No. 46 Simona Parajova of TCU in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 and Preston/Austin lost their first round match against sixth-ranked Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan of Florida 6-2, 6-2, which effectively ended Arizona’s season.
In singles play, Marker, who was named an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and finished the season ranked No. 62, competed at the top spot in the lineup in every match of the season. She finished with an overall record of 23-10 (16-5 in dual matches) and was 6-7 against nationally ranked opponents. The sophomore started off the season by going 5-3 in the fall season, which included a win at the prestigious Riviera/ITA All-American Championships Qualifying match against 31st-ranked Stefanie Tan out of TCU. She got off to a blistering start at the beginning of dual play as she won her first 14 matches of the season, which included three wins over ranked opponents. After that stretch of matches, she went on to compete against four straight opponents who were ranked in the top 11, three of which who were ranked in the top four. She was able to defeat 11th-ranked Giuliana Olmos of USC, but lost the other three matches. Through her two years as a Wildcat, Marker now holds a singles record of 38-15 and a doubles record of 19-16.
Preston, a Morehead State transfer was only able to play for one year in Tucson. She finished the season ranked No. 92 and posted an overall record of 17-9 (5-5 Pac-12), 14-6 in dual play and went 2-4 against nationally ranked opponents at the second spot in the lineup. The senior went 3-2 in fall play and then started off hot in the regular season. She won 10 of her first 11 matches. She then went 5-6 over the last few weeks of the season while defeating 49th-ranked Zoe Scandalis of USC. Preston did a bulk of her damage in doubles with Austin as her partner. The two finished with a record of 13-8 at the top spot in the lineup and finished the season ranked No. 29. They pulled off some of the biggest upsets of the college tennis season, as they defeated the fifth, second and 23rd-ranked doubles teams in just a matter of nine days. Including her time at Morehead State, Preston finished her career with a record of 48-20 in singles and 42-22 in doubles.
Oldham, the other senior competed at the third spot in the lineup all season. She finished with an overall record of 15-13 and 9-11 in dual play. She was able to collect a victory against a ranked opponent in the fall when she defeated 19th-ranked Kyra Scott out of UCSD, winning in dominating fashion 6-0, 6-0. After starting the regular season 2-2, she went on to win seven of eight matches. After that, she hit a rough spot in the season and dropped her last eight matches, five of which were against ranked foes. The senior partnered up with Chypyha in doubles play. They finished with a record of 10-8 overall and 10-6 in dual play at the third spot in the lineup. The duo was steady all year long and clinched the doubles point for the Wildcats four times. Oldham and Chypyha never lost more than two matches in a row and only lost consecutive matches in a row one time. They started off strong by winning four of their first five matches and also won three straight in mid-March. Oldham ended her Wildcat career with a record of 42-39 in singles and 17-7 in doubles, giving her 59 career victories.
Chypyha finished the year competing at the fourth spot in the lineup after winning the first 13 regular season matches of her college career. She started at the six spot and went 5-0 and then moved to the fifth spot where she went 4-0. She didn’t drop a set through her first nine matches. The freshman was promoted to the fourth spot in the lineup on Mar. 11 and won her first four matches at that spot. Things got tough for Chypyha once the meat of the Pac-12 season got going as she dropped seven matches in a row, three to ranked opponents. She competed tough against 29th-ranked Kyle McPhillips out of UCLA as she took her to a third-set tiebreaker, but lost 10-4 in the third set. She finished the year with a 17-13 overall record with a 13-7 record in dual matches.
Austin, a junior, finished the year competing at the fifth spot in the lineup. She posted a final record of 14-15 overall and 10-10 in dual matches. Austin started off the year by going 5-3 at the four spot, and then won her first four matches while competing at the fifth spot in the lineup. The junior then lost her next six matches, which included four nationally ranked opponents, but rebounded against Lina Akesson of Oregon by defeating her in straight sets. Austin did very well in doubles play alongside her partner Preston. She will carry a record of 34-33 in singles and 33-33 in doubles going into her senior year.
Hendrikx, another junior, finished the year competing at the No 6 spot in the lineup. She finished with an overall record of 19-14 overall and 12-8 during dual play. She started off going 3-2 from the No. 5 position and then went 9-6 from the No. 6 spot. Hendrikx won nine of her first 10 matches at the sixth spot, but then dropped her final five of the regular season. The junior played alongside Marker in doubles play at the second spot in the lineup. The two got off to a good start as they started 9-3, but then lost their last seven matches of the season, which included three top-14 opponents and the top ranked doubles team in the country. Through three years, Hendrikx has a 24-22 record in singles and a 19-26 record in doubles. Hendrikx was also awarded the West Region ITA Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship. The award recognizes elite student-athletes who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment and unwavering dedication to their team; with exceptional hard work, courage, sportsmanship and a positive, cooperative attitude that makes people around them play better.
Sohn only competed in the fall season due to an injury, but the freshman went 4-2 during the fall and also won the doubles tournament at the Arizona Invitational alongside partner Shayne Austin. The two defeated NAU’s Hailey Rochin/Marta Lewandoska by a score of 8-7 to take the title.
