Arizona Finishes Day Two Of Cactus Classic 1-1 – University Of Arizona Athletics

TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats went 1-1 in day two of the Cactus Classic. The Cats earned their sixth win over the Colorado Mesa Mavericks in their first sweep of the season, and fifth against CMU. The Cats saw their first defeat of the weekend against Hawaii giving them an overall record of 1-5. Pairs Dana Parker/Jasmine Safar and Maja Kaiser/Sarah Blacker finished the weekend with a team best of 3-1. 

Head Coach Steve Walker

“I was really pleased and happy with our resolve this weekend. The conditions were borderline extreme at times with the weather on day #1, but we knuckled through it.

Day two we once again played with great passion and care, but are still too much on the side of making more unforced errors. We will stay persistent and our best play is well ahead of us.”

Against the Colorado Mesa Maverick the Cats continued their 5-0 undefeated streak with a sweep, their third win of the weekend. Four pairs, Alex Parkhurst/Alana Rennie, Sarah Blacker/Maja Kaiser, Abby Russell/Dilara Gedikoglu and Hope Shannon/Mady Noble, made quick work of earning Arizona the first four points. Shannon/Noble had the quickest run of the day, going 21-13, 21-17. Parkhurst/Rennie finished right behind them with a 21-12, 21-14 finish. Safar and Parker were the only court to see a third set after taking the first and falling in the second. The pair fought hard to complete the 5-0 sweep with a 21-13, 14-21, 9-15 final.

The Wildcats put up a strong fight against Hawaii but ultimately fell 4-1. Blacker and Kaiser, the only pair to pull out a win, were able to shut Hawaii down after only two sets of 21-19, 26-24. Both Parkhurst/Rennie and Gedikoglu/Russell fought hard to force a third set and try to even the score with Hawaii. Parkhurst/Rennie went 15-21, 21-18, 10-15 with Gedikolgu/Russell finishing shortly after with 13-21, 22-20, 15-17.

Next Up

The Wildcats will be participating in two away tournaments, the ASU Tri-Match and the Cal Poly Invitational, on March 8th and March 21st. They will be back at Bear Down Beach for the Pac-12 South Invitational on March 26-27. 

FULL RESULTS

Arizona 5, Colorado Mesa 0

1. Alex Parkhurst/Alane Rennie (ARIZ) def. Savannah Spitzer/Hahni Johnson (CMU) 21-12, 21-14

2. Sarah Blacker/Maja Kaiser (ARIZ) def. Holly Schmidt/Macie Lachemann (CMU) 21-12, 21-17

3. Jasmine Safar/Dana Parker (ARIZ) def. Jessa Megenhardt/Jada Hall (CMU) 21-13, 14-21, 15-9

4. Abby Russell/Dilara Gedikoglu (ARIZ) def. Ashton Reese/Sierra Hunt (CMU) 21-9, 21-19

5. Hope Shannon/Mady Noble (ARIZ) def. Tye Wedhorn/Sabrina VanDeList (CMU) 21-13, 21-7