Editor’s note: With several sports going on, Wildcat Wrap serves as a recap that focuses on the Arizona programs that we do not have the time to cover on a regular basis but are certainly worthy of recognition.
It was only a matter of time until Arizona men’s tennis found its footing.
After a shaky start to the season, the Wildcats have won six consecutive matches, including a sweep over rival ASU last weekend. No. 15 Arizona is 11-3 with conference play set to get going next week.
Arizona won the Diablo
Invite in Tempe for the third consecutive year, defeating Michigan State, UC Santa Barbara and ASU on Feb. 27-28. The UA then defeated Michigan State at home on Tuesday.
Heading into the Diablo Invite, Arizona ranked outside the top 25 after dropping matches to Oklahoma, LSU and San Diego. Arizona three non-conferences losses felt like a cause for concern for a program that only dropped four matches all of last season.
The Wildcats responded emphatically, highlighted by a 4-0 win over then-No. 11 ASU.
All-American Jay Friend is up to No. 3 in the ITA singles rankings. Friend is 18-1 in singles play. Three other Wildcats are ranked nationally: No. 63 Filip Gustafsson, No. 72 Sasha Rozin and No. 99 Zoran Ludoski.
Arizona opens Big 12 play on the road, facing BYU on March 12 and Utah on March 16.
Track and field
Three Arizona athletes have secured their ticket for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Men’s sprinter Mason Lawyer, women’s shot putter Tapensia Havea and women’s high jumper Emma Gates will compete in Fayetteville, Ark. March 13-14.
Havea won the Big 12 Indoor shot put title, Lawyer placed second in the 60m and third in the 100m, and Gates finished fifth in high jump.
All three athletes are seniors.
Beach volleyball
Wildcats beach volleyball heads to Tempe this weekend to compete in the Sun Devil Classic. Arizona takes on ASU and Nebraska Friday, then plays Southern Miss Saturday.
Arizona (6-2) already has a pair of ranked wins on the season, having defeated No. 13 GCU and No. 19 Georgia State. The Wildcats will get another opportunity against No. 9 ASU after losing to the Sun Devils 5-0 last weekend at the Cactus Classic in Tucson.
Regan Holmer and Carli Cisneros are 5-3 as the #1 pair.
Women’s golf
Arizona struggled to a 14th place finish at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C. this week. The Wildcats shot 31-over par, 29 strokes behind winner Texas.
Charlotte Beck led the team with a 1-over to finish in the top 10. It was her third top 10 finish of the season.
Arizona returns to action next week when it competes at the GameAbove Invitational in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
