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.
Arizona men’s tennis went decades without sniffing a conference championship. Now the program has won a Pac-12 three years in a row.
Coach Clancy Shields guided Arizona to a share of its third-straight Pac-12 regular season championship and has the Wildcats in position to host an NCAA Regional next month.
No. 11 Arizona went (21-3) went 7-1 in Pac-12 play, its only loss coming to Stanford, which also received a share of the Pac-12 regular season title. The Wildcats ended the regular season on Sunday, beating No. 57 Oregon 4-1 in Eugene.
Bringing home some hardware #ArizonaTennis x #BearDown pic.twitter.com/XjbPevi9vL
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 21, 2024
Arizona enters this week’s Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, Calif. as the No. 2 seed behind Stanford. The Wildcats open the tournament Thursday afternoon against USC.
As successful as Arizona has been in Pac-12 play over the last three seasons, the program has struggled once it’s reached the Pac-12 Championships. In 2021-22, it was bounced in the quarterfinals. Last year it lost in the semis.
While Arizona’s ranking all but solidifies that it will host an NCAA Regional, the Wildcats could improve their seeding in the NCAA Tournament with a deep run at the Pac-12 Championships.
The UA has three players ranked in the top 75 nationally, led by No. 20 Colton Smith.
Women’s golf
No. 14 women’s golf had finished in the top five of the Pac-12 Championships every year since 1994. That streak finally came to an end this year.
Arizona finished seventh at the event with a score of 4-over par, placing the team three strokes out of fifth place and 30 strokes behind champion Stanford.
Competing at Palouse Ridge in Pullman, Arizona shot a 16-over in the first round to finish the day tied for ninth. The UA improved its position Monday with an 8-under round to climb into a tie for seventh. Arizona was led Monday by freshman Charlotte Back, who whose score of 64 (8-under) tied the lowest round in school history.
Arizona shot 4-under Tuesday but was never in contention to move near the top of the leaderboard.
Back led the Wildcats for the event with a 5-under to place fifth overall.
Beach volleyball
No. 19 beach volleyball went 2-1 last week, including a home upset over No. 13 ASU.
Arizona defeated ASU 3-2 last Thursday, winning the match by the smallest of margins. With the victory, Arizona remains undefeated at home this season.
The Wildcats fell into an early hole, losing the point on court No. 1. Arizona’s court No. 3 pair of Kylee Fitzsimmons and Grace Cook put the UA on the scoreboard. A second point was earned by court No. 4 pair Jess Horwath and Kate Phillips.
With ASU winning the point on court No. 2, the match came down to the fifth court, Ashlyn Zilliken and Mirrando Erro won the first set before dropping the second. The third and deciding set went into a tiebreak, with Arizona prevailing by a score of 21-13, 18-21, 19-17.
RIVALRY UPSET AT BEAR DOWN BEACH! @ArizonaBVB | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/ekfE4EDaLW
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) April 19, 2024
Arizona’s week continued over the weekend in Los Angeles, where the Wildcats defeated Cal State Northridge 3-2, then fell to No. 9 Loyola Marymount 5-0.
Arizona competes this week at the Pac-12 Tournament in Tempe, where it will take on UCLA Wednesday morning as the No. 7 seed. The tournament is double-elimination.