The Arizona men’s tennis team has made history in a number of different ways over the past few seasons, from winning the Pac-12 regular season multiple times to most recently winning the conference tournament championship for the first time in program history.
In the same span, UA has made the Sweet 16 in three of the past four seasons, but they have yet to be able to advance any further. They will have the chance to do so on Saturday when the No. 9-seeded Wildcats (26-3) travel to New York to take on No. 8-seeded Columbia (22-3).
“That was our No. 1 goal this year. Let’s create history,” coach Clancy Shields said prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament. “That was our main pillar. I was like ‘Gosh, we’ve done a lot of it the last few years. Is there anything left?’ And I think we’ve done five or six things we’ve never done before.”
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Among the history Arizona made this year included a strong performance at the National Indoors that started off with a win over then-No. 3 Texas and a top-five ranking at one point in the season.
Arizona’s Eric Padgham hits a backhand in No. 2 doubles against Auburn in their second-round against Auburn.
“We’re getting closer and closer to the mountain top and it’s hard to keep climbing the closer you get,” Shields said. “I think that’s where you have to have a lot of special guys like we have in our locker room.”
When the draw was announced, it was a slight surprise that as the Pac-12 champion, Arizona drew the No. 9 seed behind the Ivy League champion in Columbia. It meant that barring an upset in the first two rounds, the Wildcats would have to travel to the East Coast for the Sweet 16.
Michigan came close to pulling off the upset in Round 2, but Columbia prevailed 4-2, meaning the Wildcats wouldn’t get to host the Sweet 16.
Columbia coach Howard Endelman was named Ivy League Coach of the Year for the second straight season, while sophomore Michael Zheng and senior Theo Winegar were named to the First-Team All-Ivy list. Columbia also had four players named to the Second-Team All-Ivy list.
Arizona’s Jay Friend gets to a drop shot against Auburn’s Finn Murgett in singles play last weekend.
The Lions have two top-100 ranked singles players per the ITA Rankings in Zheng (No. 23) and senior Alex Kotzen (No. 100) to three top-100 ranked singles players for Arizona in Colton Smith (No. 22), Jay Friend (No. 35) and Gustaf Strom (No. 70).
Both teams also have a ranked double team with Winegar and Zheng coming in at No. 16 for Columbia, while Smith and Friend are ranked No. 46 for Arizona. The doubles point figures to be crucial in this match as it always is in college tennis.
The Lions are 13-1 at home, with the lone defeat coming to then-No. 8 Harvard in February. Columbia’s lone match against a Pac-12 team was a 6-1 win over UCLA on March 11 in Los Angeles.
“We know what we’re up against,” Shields said. “I think last time (during the National Indoors), it was somewhat like a sight-seeing trip. Our guys were so excited to go to New York, but I think this time, it’ll be like, ‘We’ve been there, seen all the sights. Let’s get to work. Let’s get to the practice courts and put in some time here.’”
A UA win could mean a date against No. 1 Ohio State in the Elite Eight. The Wildcats lost to the Buckeyes in tight fashion in the Sweet 16 last year; Ohio State went on to the national championship match, where it fell 4-0 to Virginia. The Buckeyes host No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday morning.
Arizona men's tennis player Herman Hoeyerall defeats Auburn's Raul Dobai 6-3, 6-4 to give the Wildcats' their first singles' victory of the day over the Tigers. Arizona cruised to a 4-0 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on the UA campus in Tucson. (Courtesy Arizona Athletics)
