Wildcat Wrap: Arizona men’s golf in hunt for Pac-12 championship

Editor’s note: With so many sports going on this 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.

Arizona men’s golf finished day one of the Pac-12 Championships one stroke off leader Arizona State with two rounds remaining. The event is taking place at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Arizona shot 24-under-par over the first two rounds Monday, with all five Wildcats scoring in the top 35 individually. Brad Reeves leads the team at seven-under, tied for third overall, while Trevor Werbylo is tied for fifth at six-under.

Arizona and ASU widened their lead over the rest of the conference during Monday’s second round — only Oregon at 15-under is in real striking distance.

It’s little surprise that the Pac-12 Championships should come down to the Wildcats and Sun Devils, who’ve been the conference’s two best teams all season.

Arizona was ranked as high as No. 1 nationally before dropping to their current ranking at No. 21. ASU meanwhile is ranked No. 9 in the country.

The Pac-12 Championships will wrap up Wednesday.

Beach volleyball

Beach volleyball concluded its regular season last week with a seventh consecutive victory over ASU. The No. 9 Wildcats topped the No. 20 Sun Devils 4-1 in Phoenix on Thursday.

Arizona is now 21-4, its second most wins in program history.

The Wildcats won three of four points in straight sets. Alex Parkhurst/Alana Rennie sealed the victory with a 25-23, 14-21, 15-8 win on the top seeded court.

Arizona now prepares for the Pac-12 Championships which begin April 29th in Los Angeles.

Women’s golf

Women’s golf finished fourth in the Pac-12 Championships, held over the weekend at Stanford Golf Club.

Arizona shot nine-over-par across three rounds, one stroke behind third place ASU, seven off runner-up Stanford and 12 back of conference champion USC.

The Wildcats entered the tournament ranked behind all three of those schools, so their fourth-place showing wasn’t a surprise.

Yu-Sang Hou finished third individually at four-under, while Vivian Hou finished tied for 10th with a one-over. Gile Bite Starkute placed tied for 17th at eight-over.

Between the Hou sisters and Starkute, Arizona has a decent chance of winning NCAA Tournament match play contests if it can advance that far.

The Wildcats will first have to make it through NCAA Regionals. They’ll find out their host site on Wednesday. The NCAA Women’s Golf Championship Selection Show will be broadcast on Golf Channel at 11 a.m. MST.

Men’s tennis

No. 19 Men’s tennis reached the semifinals of the Pac-12 Championships, falling to No. 15 USC on Sunday 4-1.

The Wildcats had beaten the Trojans in the regular season but couldn’t manage to pull off the upset a second time. No. 76 Jonas Ziverts scored the lone win for Arizona.

The Wildcats were supposed to face Stanford in a third-place consolation match Monday, but it was called off due to inclement weather.

Arizona won its quarterfinals match over Utah 4-0.

The team now awaits its NCAA Tournament draw. The Wildcats last made the 64-team tournament in 2019, where they lost to Oklahoma in the opening round 4-0.

Women’s tennis

Women’s tennis fell to Washington 4-1 in the opening round of the Pac-12 Championships, effectively ending their season.

Khim Iglupas was the lone Wildcat to win her match.

Arizona finishes the season with a 13-12 record, its third consecutive season at .500 or better.