Wildcat Wrap: Arizona beach volleyball, men’s tennis earn wins over ASU

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.

Beach volleyball hosted the Pac-12 South Invitational over the weekend, going 3-1 with wins over Washington, Cal and ASU as well as a loss to UCLA.

No. 17 Arizona defeated Washington and No. 11 Cal by a score of 4-1 each on day one of the invitational. The No. 2 pair of Sarah Blacker and Maja Kaiser swept their matches to lead the Wildcats.

On day two, the UA fell 5-0 to No. 1 UCLA before rebounding with a 3-2 victory over the rival Sun Devils. No. 1 pair Alex Parkhurst and Alana Rennie gave Arizona the clinching point.

“Without a doubt this was our most complete weekend, putting together far more consistent play for longer stretches,” coach Steve Walker said, according to Arizona Athletics. “The positive results really stemmed from the players being very receptive in practice, going harder longer. It’s nice the see the work pay off some. The hard work and attention to detail will to continue as there are no easy weekends in site [sic], but I know we have the right people in place to do just that.”

Arizona (11-5) travels to Corpus Christi, Texas later this week to face Houston Baptist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Arizona Christian.

Men’s tennis

Men’s tennis took down ASU 6-1 on Saturday, giving the program its second-straight win over the Sun Devils.

Arizona swept doubles and got singles points on all but one court. Four of the UA’s five singles points were won in straight sets.

The No. 19 Wildcats are now 2-0 in Pac-12 play after previously defeating No. 14 USC in Los Angeles. Arizona (15-5) travels to the Bay Area this weekend to face No. 13 Stanford and No. 27 Cal.

Moreover, Arizona’s wins over ASU in men’s tennis and beach volleyball helped offset a sweep to the Sun Devils on the softball diamond. ASU currently leads the Territorial Cup standings 9-6.

Women’s golf

Arizona finished 10th out of 16 teams at the PING/ASU Invitational over the weekend. The Wildcats shot 18-over-par across the three-day event, well behind winner ASU at 25-under. Lilas Pinthier was the Wildcats’ top performer with a 1-over, which put her in a tie for 24th.

“Our final round wasn’t as strong as I had hoped, but we played some quality golf throughout the weekend at this tournament,” coach Laura Ianello said, per Arizona Athletics. “Each member of our lineup carded some good scores during the week, and we showed some improvement as a team. Our growth and development throughout each of our tournaments this season will continue to show as we begin the home stretch of our schedule.”

Arizona’s season continues next week with the Silverado Showdown in Napa, California.

Track and field

Arizona competed at the ASU Invitational late last week, where the program earned a pair of event wins.

Talie Bonds won the women’s high jump on day one, clearing 1.79m for an outdoor season-best. She followed that with a 100m hurdles victory on day two, setting the fourth-fastest time in school history at 13.18.

Mackenna Orie won the women’s shot put with a personal record mark of 16.20m (53’-6.25’’).

Arizona secured several more top-five finishes throughout the invitational, including a second-place run by the men’s 4x400m relay team.

Men’s swimming & diving

Arizona swimmer Brooks Fail ended his collegiate career with three of All-American honors at last week’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.

Fail placed fifth in the 500 free, sixth in the 400 IM with a school record time of 3:38.55, and seventh in the 1650 free.

Diver Bjorn Markentin gave Arizona another All-American honor with a seventh-place finish in the 1-meter event.

The Wildcats finished 17th in the team contest with 79 points.