Seattle- The Sand Cats went 1-1 on the first day of the Pac-12 North Invitational on Friday, April 3.
To start the day, the Wildcats faced the University of California-Berkeley, the No. 7 team in the nation. Arizona fell to the Golden Bears in a 0-5 loss.
Later in the afternoon, Arizona rallied to defeat Oregon in a decisive 5-0 sweep.
Arizona’s Abby Russell/Olivia McElroy were 1-1 at the No. 1 position. The pair faced an early morning defeat against the Golden Bears, falling in two sets. Later in the day, Russell and McElroy won a tight match against the Ducks in three sets, securing the final point for Arizona in the dual.
At No. 2, pair Hope Shannon/Annie Kost fell to Cal’s Sierra Caffo/Kendall Peters 12-21, 19-21. Kost and Shannon rallied later in the day to defeat Oregon’s pair in a hard-fought three sets.
Kylee Fitzsimmons/Grace Cook went 1-1 at No. 3 for the day, falling short to Cal’s 3’s pair in two close sets but coming back to defeat the Ducks in two sets.
Arizona’s Jess Horwath/Kate Phillips fought a tight match against the Golden Bears at No.4 , ultimately falling in two sets (22-24, 18-21). The pair came back swinging in the afternoon with a dominant defeat of the Ducks (21-12, 21-7).
Pair Miranda Erro/Ashlyn Zilliken fell to the Golden Bears in two sets at No. 5. In their later matchup against the Ducks, the pair clinched the win for Arizona and kept Oregon’s No. 5 pair to 8 points in the first set and 10 in the second.
LOOKING AHEAD
Tomorrow, the Sand Cats compete against the top two teams in the country, No. 2 Stanford and No. 1 UCLA.
#18 Arizona – 0 , #7 California – 5
Court 1: Gia Fisher and Emma Donley (CAL) def. Abby Russell and Olivia McElroy (ARIZ) 22-20, 21-11
Court 2: Sierra Caffo and Kendall Peters (CAL) def. Annie Kost and Hope Shannon (ARIZ) 21-12, 21-19
Court 3: Marilu Pally and Alexand Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Kylee Fitzsimmons and Grace Cook (ARIZ) 21-18, 21-16
Court 4: Jenna Colligan and Lara Boos (CAL) def. Jess Horwath and Kate Phillips (ARIZ) 24-22, 21-18
Court 5: Portia Sherman and Ella Dreibholz (CAL) def. Ashlyn Zilliken and Miranda Erro (ARIZ) 21-14, 21-15
#18 Arizona…
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