No. 23 Arizona men’s tennis team will be playing University of California, Santa Barbara at home for the first time this spring season on Sunday at 1 p.m. The women’s team will also be at home this weekend as it is set to host three matches this weekend.
The last time Arizona played UCSB was two years ago, with Arizona coming out on top with a tight score of 4-3. Between 2000 and 2014, Arizona had an impressive five-match winning streak going against UCSB, but lost the streak in 2016. Having beaten UCSB the last time they played, the hope for Arizona is to continue the wins against UCSB matchups.
The men’s team definitely look strong going into the matchup with UCSB based on its long weekend last week beating San Francisco and St. John’s in a doubleheader tournament on Friday and coming back with high energy on Sunday to beat California Polytechnic State University 4-0.
Arizona has gone 8-1 so far this season, playing California schools in its fall season, so the hope is for them to do the same this weekend. In fact, Arizona isn’t just scaring off schools in California. Arizona has also won every match other than top-team TCU, thus far proving its strong improvement and preparation. These early season matches are crucial for Arizona to get into the groove and feel strong heading into Pac-12 matchups that are only about a month away.
The Arizona women’s tennis team has a busy weekend as it will be facing a doubleheader tournament against North Texas on Friday at 11 a.m. and NAU at 3 p.m. The Wildcats will end the weekend on Sunday against Kansas State at 10 a.m.
Having just practiced with Japan, the UA tennis team is ready for some action and prepared to get back to the season’s competition.
Going into the doubleheader, the Wildcats will need to bring their high energy to beat North Texas. Last year against North Texas, Arizona lost on the road 1-3, so the squad should be in the redemption mindset leading up to the match this week.
In regards to its later matches on Friday against NAU, the hope for the Wildcats is to show that match 15 against the Lumberjacks is no different than the last 14 times Arizona has played NAU, as the Wildcats have beat them in every single one. The last time they played NAU, Arizona was able to defeat them 5-2 around the same time this year.
The match against North Texas won’t be the only testament for the improvement of Arizona, however. Arizona also lost to Kansas State on the road last year, giving the Wildcats another opportunity at redemption.
All four matches will be hosted at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center as Arizona tennis is hoping for fans to come to watch its redemption free of charge.
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