Citizen Staff Writer
ARIZONA WILDCATS SPORTS
BRYAN LEE
brylee@tucsoncitizen.com
She was so quick to dispatch her opponent, you would think Natasha Marks had an early dinner date or something.
But it was just her hurry-up efficiency for the Arizona women’s tennis team, something coach Vicky Maes wants to channel more.
“You want to get in there and dominate but I am trying to be patient,” Marks said.
Marks won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 singles for UA in its 6-1 win against visiting Washington State on Friday.
Marks brings an aggressive approach to UA, nailing corners and forcing her opponents to make mistakes.
Marks is one of four freshman who are breaking through early to solidify Maes’ team. Saturday the challenge gets a little more intense with No. 17-ranked Washington in town for a noon match.
UA (6-3, 1-1) got wins from its top five singles players Friday, including a 6-4, 6-0 win by Daniel Steinberg at No. 1.
“I’m really happy with the way we played today,” Maes said. “Going into (Saturday) this is exactly what we needed.”
UA baseball
The Wildcats improved to 7-4 behind the pitching of Preston Guilmet and a balanced offense.
UA beat visiting Massachusetts 13-4 as Guilmet (1-1) allowed four runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Bobby Coyle had three hits for UA; Matt Presley, Jett Bandy and Codi Harshman all had two.
Brad Glenn, Dillon Baird, Presley, Harshman and Dwight Childs had two RBIs for UA, which scored three runs in the sixth and four in the seventh to break the game open.
The teams meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at Sancet Stadium.
UA men’s tennis
The No. 17-ranked Wildcats won their eighth straight match by beating visiting New Mexico State 6-1 on Friday.
Jay Goldman won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles for the Wildcats, who host UC Irvine at noon Sunday at the Tucson Racquet Club.
UA men’s swimming
The Wildcats sit in third place after the third day of the Pac-10 meet. UA has 421 points, behind Stanford (607 1/2) and California (572).
The event concludes Saturday in Long Beach, Calif.
UA gymnastics
The Wildcats rallied to beat Denver 195.350-195.025 Friday at McKale Center in the team’s final home match of the season.
Senior Briana Bergeson had a 9.825 to win the beam for UA. Other Wildcats winning events were Bree Workman (9.875 on floor) and Deanna Graham (9.9 on vault).
UA ends its regular season with a meet against Maryland, Yale and Penn State in College Park, Md., on March 14.
Guilmet gets job done for UA vs. Massachusetts