Jan. 26, 2013

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -

No. 30 Arizona (3-0) defeated No. 41 Minnesota (2-1), 4-2, in the opening round at the ITA Kick-Off on Saturday afternoon.

After winning the doubles point in both matches last weekend, Arizona fell behind for the first time this season as Minnesota earned the doubles score to give the Gophers an early 1-0 lead.

At the start of doubles play, Arizona juniors Akilah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland) paired up at the No. 3 spot and defeated Mozia and Umanets, 8-2, giving the Wildcats the advantage to earn the doubles point. However, Arizona dropped the remaining two matches in tiebreakers.

"We didn't play well in our doubles," Arizona head coach Vicky Maes said. "We didn't close on our chances and wound up going into those singles with a little more pressure than we had wanted."

In singles play, UA junior Kim Stubbe (Mol, Belgium) tied the match at 1-1 after winning straight sets against Brichacova, 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 2 spot.

Freshman Shayne Austin (Oak Park, Calif.) put the Wildcats ahead, 2-1, as she recorded her first collegiate singles victory at the No. 6 spot against Doron Muravnik, 7-6(5), 6-4. Minutes later, Arizona junior Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.) posted a win at the No. 1 spot against Natallia Pintusava, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

"The team dug in hard," Maes said. "I am so proud of my girls for fighting through this match. We found a way to come back and Minnesota didn't give us any free points."

After dropping her first set at the No. 5 spot, Mc Rann came back against Jessika Mozia and won the next two sets, securing Arizona's third-consecutive win.

"Kudos to Susan Mc Rann for stepping up," Maes said. "I am also proud of all my girls for fighting through this match. We really had to go all out today and battle for the win."

UPDATE: The match time between Arizona and Texas A&M on Sunday has been moved back from 2 p.m. (CT) to 12:30 p.m (CT). No. 13 Texas A&M defeated No. 54 North Texas on Saturday late afternoon, 4-1.

For complete results and continued coverage of Arizona women's tennis, visit the Arizona women's tennis page on Facebook or ArizonaWildcats.com. For live updates, follow @ArizonaWTennis on Twitter.

Doubles

No. 1 Brichacova/Pintusava (Minnesota) def. Hendrikx/Stubbe (Arizona), 8-7(9)

No. 2 Muravnik/Palen (Minnesota) def. Austin/Smyth (Arizona), 8-7 (4)

No. 3 Mc Rann/James (Arizona) def. Mozia/Ulmanets (Minnesota), 8-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles

No. 1 Lacey Smyth (Arizona) def. Natallia Pintusava (Minnesota), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

No. 2 Kim Stubbe (Arizona) def. Tereza Brichacova (Minnesota), 6-2, 6-0

No. 3 Laura Oldham (Arizona) vs. Yuliana Umanets (Minnesota), 6-4, 6-7 (3), 1-1 unfinished

No. 4 Aria Lambert (Minnesota) def. Akilah James (Arizona), 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3

No. 5 Susan Mc Rann (Arizona) Jessika Mozia (Minnesota), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-5

No. 6 Shayne Austin (Arizona) def. Doron Muravnik (Minnesota) 7-6 (5), 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 6, 1, 4, 5*