Arizona men’s tennis competed at the New Mexico Balloon Fiesta Invitational over the weekend, picking up three victories on the final day. All four of the players who competed finished the tournament with .500 records or better in both doubles and singles play.
Arizona’s junior Will Kneale defeated Abilene Christian’s Jason Proctor 6-2, 6-4, Sunday in the Cherry Draw Consolation. In the Turquoise Draw Consolation, Wildcat transfer and redshirt freshman Will Adkisson defeated Air Force’s Tadgh Collins 7-5, 6-4.
Senior Matt Dunn made it all the way to the White Draw Championship before dropping his match 7-6, 3-6, 5-7, to Mauricio Benitez from New Mexico State.
Adkisson and senior Trevor James dropped their doubles match in the Gold Draw Doubles Championship to New Mexico’s Augustus Ge and Rodolfo Jauregui, 4-8.
Dunn and Kneale finished the tournament on a positive note, defeating New Mexico State’s Christofer Goncalvez and Mauricio Benitez 8-7.
Arizona women’s tennis has also made a splash early in the season. Last week, No. 43 Lauren Marker competed at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, California. Marker defeated No. 38 Kourtney Keegan from Florida 6-3, 6-4, in her first match of the day. Marker then dropped her next match to Duke’s Ellyse Hamlin 4-6, 4-6.
“Lauren played a very good match this morning despite some early jitters,” women’s head coach Vicky Maes said in a press release. “She found her stride in the match and didn’t look back. It was a different story in the afternoon, where she battled someone I felt she should beat. She just couldn’t find her groove and made too many mistakes.”
Up next, the women’s team will compete in the ITA Regional Tournament in San Diego, California, while the men will compete at the ITA Regional Championships in Malibu, California.
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