Wildcat Wrap: Arizona men’s tennis gets Top 10 victory over Baylor

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.

The No. 18 Arizona men’s tennis team picked up a big road victory over No. 10 Baylor last Friday, the program’s first-ever win over the Bears. Arizona won the doubles competition, then picked up four singles points to win the match 5-2.

Herman Hoeyeraal, ranked No. 98 nationally in men’s singles, clinched the match for the Wildcats with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over Baylor’s Luc Koenig on court No. 4. Gustaf Strom gave Arizona a key win on court No. 2 with a straight-set 6-1, 6-2 victory over Baylor’s Zsombor Velcz.

Arizona followed up the Baylor win with a 4-2 loss to No. 7 Texas Sunday, the Wildcats’ second defeat to the Longhorns this season.

Strom and Jay Friend gave Arizona singles points wins.

On Tuesday, Strom was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.

Men’s tennis returns to action Feb. 25-26 for the Blue/Gray Tournament in Montgomery, Ala.

Women’s tennis

The Wildcats women’s tennis team traveled to Honolulu this past weekend where it swept a pair of matches against Hawaii. Arizona won the Friday match 5-2, then won Saturday 6-1.

The UA won five of six singles points in the Friday match, led by a come-from-behind victory by Midori Castillo-Meza (3-6, 6-3, 6-3) on court No. 2.

On Saturday, Arizona swept the doubles competition, then won five of six singles points, two of them by forfeit.

The Wildcats travel to Lawrence, Kan. this weekend for matches against Kansas, Texas Tech, and UC Santa Barbara.

Women’s golf

No. 15 Arizona competed this week in the Therese Hession Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif., finishing seventh out of 16 teams. The Wildcats shot a 20-over par for the three-day event, 14 strokes behind champion Oregon.

Arizona was led by Lilas Pinthier and Julia Misemer, who each shot 5-over to finish in a tie for 20th. Carolina Melgrati was right behind with a 6-over to finish in a tie for 27th.

“We shot better scores each day of the tournament, which showed our team’s growth and development,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “We did not play our best golf this week, but this was a great competitive environment for our team to experience and learn from. There are plenty of lessons we can take away from this week for our next tournament in two weeks.”

Arizona next competes at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla, beginning on March 4.

Track and field

The Wildcats competed at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque this past weekend, where a pair of athletes set school records.

Sprinter Trayvion White-Austin set a new school record in the men’s indoor 200m with a time of 20.97.

Talie Bonds broke her own Arizona school record in the women’s indoor 60m hurdles with a personal best of 8.04. This is the third time this season Bonds has broken the UA record.

Arizona athletes set a total of 21 new personal bests at the three-day event.