Arizona men’s tennis (11-10, 0-2 Pac-12 Conference) will take on the Washington Huskies (9-9, 0-2) in Seattle on Friday.
This match will be the program’s first televised match in the history of the Pac-12 Networks.
“Being on television is a huge opportunity,” assistant coach Arron Spencer said. “Not a lot of teams are able to be on a good network like the Pac-12 Networks and be able to see the match live. Anytime you can put your name out a little differently, it’s a good thing.”
The Wildcats will be looking to notch their first conference victory of the season, coming off of a nail-biting 4-3 loss last weekend to No. 52 Stanford. Currently at a .500 overall record and standing at 0-2 in conference, the Huskies present a team similarly situated as the Wildcats.
“We’ve proven we can compete with a lot of teams this year,” Spencer said. “Matt [Anger] and Chris [Russell] always have well-coached teams. Our guys have to show up and be ready to compete.”
Arizona will have a quick turnaround, as it heads to play No. 27 Oregon on Saturday. This match also holds special significance, as it marks Spencer’s first return as coach to the school he once played for.
Spencer played four years for the Ducks. That included being senior captain, a member of the 2004 NCAA Tournament squad and ranking as high as No. 9 nationally in doubles.
“I’m excited for it,” Spencer said. “A lot of the same people are still there, so it’ll be fun to reconnect and go in with a huge ‘A’ on my chest.”
Arizona women’s tennis will host two ranked opponents this weekend. The action starts on Friday when No. 35 Arizona will take on the No. 30 Utah Utes.
Utah improved to 11-6 on the season with a victory over Montana last weekend.
“We have a challenging weekend ahead of us,” head coach Vicky Maes said. “Both Utah and Colorado are solid teams and have had impressive results this season. At the same time, we feel confident taking on these teams at home. We have been playing well, and we have momentum. We need to be ready to battle, though, and we expect these matches we be close.”
Arizona will then host the No. 73 Colorado Buffaloes. Last weekend, the Buffaloes defeated Tulane, improving their record to 8-10.
—Follow Zoe Wolkowitz @zowolko