Wildcat Wrap: Arizona women’s tennis opens season with sweep

Editor’s note: With so many sports going on this winter and spring, we are re-introducing the Wildcat Wrap, a weekly recap that will focus on the Arizona programs that we do not have the time to cover on a regular basis but are certainly worthy of recognition.

The Arizona women’s tennis team’s long awaited start to the 2022 spring season began with a sweep of UTEP and New Mexico State on Monday.

The Wildcats didn’t drop a single point in Las Cruces, topping UTEP and NMSU 7-0.

Kayla Wilkins, a 2021 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, won both her points in the No. 1 singles spot. Salma Ziouti, a grad transfer from Drexel, began her UA career with a pair of wins in the No. 2 singles.

Alexa Ryngler, a transfer from national powerhouse programs Texas and Pepperdine, won both of her singles points as well.

The Wildcats return to action Friday with a home matchup against San Diego State.

Men’s tennis

The No. 12 Wildcats split a pair of matches in College Station over the weekend, beating Texas Tech 4-1 but falling to No. 19 Texas A&M 4-1.

The Wildcats swept Texas Tech in doubles and won three singles points. Arizona’s No. 53-ranked singles player Herman Hoeyeraal picked up a point win against the Red Raiders in the No. 4 singles spot.

Arizona fell to host Texas A&M, dropping the doubles point and three singles points. Colton Smith was the lone UA player to earn a singles point as he defeated Texas A&M’s No. 74 ranked Raphael Perot.

The Wildcats return home to face San Diego on Friday and New Mexico State in a doubleheader on Sunday.

Track & Field

Arizona sent split squads to the Texas Tech Open & Multis and the UW Invitational over the weekend. In Lubbock, the Wildcats swept the shot put competitions behind dominant showings from Jordan Geist and Samantha Noennig.

UA runners posted several strong times at the UW Invitational, led by Shannon Meisberger’s 53.79 time in the 400m, just shy of a personal record, to place second.

The Wildcats will be on the road again this week with split squads competing at the WSU Invitational & Multis in Spokane Wednesday through Friday and the Ron Mann Classic in Flagstaff on Thursday and Friday.

Swimming & Diving

Arizona’s men’s and women’s programs host rival ASU on Friday. This is the last home meet of the season and the UA’s last meet before the Pac-12 Championships in late February and early March. The meet begins at 12 p.m. MT.