The Arizona men’s tennis team hasn’t been hot this spring season, as the Wildcats have endured several heartbreakers to other teams. The team played four matches and went 2-2 while Arizona students had down time for spring break.
The Wildcats traveled to Fresno, Calif., on March 18, to compete against Navy and had a long overdue 5-2 victory. However, the celebration didn’t last long, as the next day, the team played Fresno State and lost, 4-3.
The team traveled to Boise, Idaho, for Saturday and Sunday matches against Boise State and Cal Poly. The Wildcats found themselves competing until the very end against Boise State on Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they fell short 4-3. The energy Arizona came out with to start the matches seemed like there was going to be hope for a bounce back performance, as they won the doubles points on court one and three after falling on court two.
Junior Matt Dunn and his doubles partner junior Jason Jaruvang on court three outdid their opponents Brian Foley and Toby Mitchell. Dunn and Jaruvang had their teammates, No. 118 ranked senior Sumeet Shinde and No. 45 ranked junior Naoki Takeda, to back them up and score the second doubles point to put Arizona in the lead over the Broncos.
The Wildcats’ momentum stayed throughout singles, as Jaruvang took down his opponent Foley in only two sets, 6-3 and 6-1, on court four to allow Arizona a 2-0 lead. Things quickly went down hill from there, as freshmen David Mushayev was defeated by Mitchell in two sets on court three to allow the Broncos to now be up on the score board.
The Wildcats then allowed the Broncos to tie things up 2-2, as freshmen Shoki Kasahara lost in two sets (6-4 and 6-4) to Boise State, Abe Hewbo. There was still plenty of time for the Wildcats to rally in the victory as three courts were still playing their matches. Sophomore Will Kneale did just that as he won on court five by defeating Lewis Roskilly 6-4 and 6-3 to put Arizona back up on top 3-2.
Arizona was close to securing the team win, but the two ranked players, Takeda and Shinde, were both defeated by their opponents in a long three sets, with each winning just one set out of the three. Boise State Thomas Tenreiro clinched the point against Shinde to let the Broncos celebrate their victory
On Sunday, when the Wildcats played Cal Poly, the team was able to celebrate a 4-3 win. Cal Poly is ranked 65th, further cementing the up and down week.
Cal Poly came out strong as they quickly snagged the doubles point on courts one and two. However, the Wildcats started up their momentum in the singles as Takeda, Mushayev, Jaruvang and Kasahara all helped their team to victory. Takeda, in the No.1 spot, defeated Ben Donovan in just two sets, as well as Mushayev rapidly grabbing that victory.
Although the Wildcats went 2-2 for their matches played this week, ending on a high note should give plenty momentum to the team in coming matches.
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