Friday, 03/23/2012

TUCSON, Ariz. – A trio of freshmen came up big in the lower half of the Husky singles lineup, but 31st-ranked Arizona took the top three matches and the doubles point to pull out a 4-3 win at the Robson Tennis Center today. 36th-ranked Washington (6-6, 0-3 Pac-12) was looking to hand Arizona its first home loss in 11 matches this year but fell one point shy.

The pivotal match proved to be the No. 1 singles match, where 11th-ranked senior Denise Dy rallied from a set down to force a third set against 79th-ranked Lacey Smyth, but Smyth won the tight third set, completing a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win, to clinch the match for Arizona. Dy has had several close losses of late as she perseveres through a wrist injury. She did not compete in doubles today.

Freshmen Capucine Gregoire, Julija Lukac, and Riko Shimizu gave great efforts to secure singles wins at the four, five, and six spots. Gregoire defeated Kim Stubbe at the fourth spot, Lukac was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Susan McRann at No. 5, and Shimizu improved to 3-0 in Pac-12 singles matches with a 6-4, 6-4 win at sixth singles over Debora Castany.

85th-ranked Wildcat senior Natasha Marks topped sophomore Andjela Nemcevic, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2 singles, and senior Samantha Smith fell short against Sarah Landsman at third singles, 6-2, 6-3.

The Huskies will be back in action tomorrow against 30th-ranked Arizona State in Tempe.

Washington Women’s Tennis
March 23, 2012 – Tucson, Ariz.
Robson Tennis Center

No. 31 Arizona 4, No. 36 Washington 3

Doubles

1) (45) Smyth/Marks (UA) def. Smith/Nemcevic (UW), 8-3
2) Landsman/Johnson (UA) def. Shimizu/Lukac (UW), 8-3
3) Stubbe/McRann (UA) def. Gregoire/Pavlovic (UW), 8-5

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles

1) (79) Lacey Smyth (UA) def. (11) Denise Dy (UW), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
2) (85) Natasha Marks (UA) def. Andjela Nemcevic (UW), 6-2, 6-1
3) Sarah Landsman (UA) def. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-2, 6-3
4) Capucine Gregoire (UW) def. Kim Stubbe (UA), 6-4, 7-6
5) Julija Lukac (UW) def. Susan McRann (UA), 6-2, 6-3
6) Riko Shimizu (UW) def. Debora Castany (UA), 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 5, 6, 3, 1, 4