Arizona men’s and women’s tennis teams earn bids to NCAA Tournament

For a second straight year, both Arizona tennis programs are headed to the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats men’s and women’s tennis teams heard their name called on NCAA selection shows on Monday.

On the men’s side, Arizona (24-4) is the No. 10 overall seed and will host Denver (18-6) on Friday in Tucson. The winner will face either Harvard (19-6) or Washington (17-8) on Saturday.

The Arizona women (19-10) will travel to Charlottesville, Va. where they’ll play Illinois (14-12) on Friday, with the winner facing No. 7 seed Virginia (20-5) or FDU (11-7) on Saturday.

Three straight national seeds for men’s tennis

Arizona men’s tennis has established itself as one of the top programs in the country under coach Clancy Shields. The Wildcats are hosting the NCAAs as a national seed for the third consecutive season.

Arizona was the No. 14 seed in 2022-23 and the No. 9 seed in 2023-24. Both seasons ended in the round of 16, as did the 2020-21 season.

This year the Wildcats are led by two of the nation’s top singles players, senior Colton Smith and junior Jay Friend. Smith and Friend are No. 5 and No. 6 in the country in the latest ITA rankings. Zoran Ludoski, a freshman, is ranked No. 96.

Arizona’s Smith and Inaki Cabrera-Bello, a senior and team caption, form the No. 38 ranked doubles pair.

Arizona has made the NCAAs in five straight years and is looking to break through to men’s tennis’ version of the Elite 8 for the first time in program history.

To get there, Arizona will have to take care of business at home and then likely travel to Charlottesville to face No. 7 seed Virginia. The Cavaliers have won two of the last three NCAA championships.

First things first, Arizona faces a Denver opponent that won the Summit League championship has a victory over the Big 12’s BYU on its resume. Arizona has won its last four NCAA opening round matches.

If the Wildcats advance to the second round, they could face a familiar opponent in Washington. Arizona has swept Washington in each of the the last three meetings dating back to the 2022-23 season.

Arizona enters the postseason on a nine-match winning streak. The UA is 14-1 at home this season.

Women’s tennis back in the field

Arizona women’s tennis coach Ryan Stotland has guided the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA appearances, an impressive feat for a program that didn’t make the NCAAs from 2015 to 2024.

The Wildcats enter the postseason ranked No. 30 in the country and on paper have the advantage over No. 42 ranked Illinois.

Arizona is led by a pair of top-100 ranked singles players, No. 77 Josie Usereau, a sophomore, and No. 96 Midori Castillo, a senior. Castillo and sophomore Martyna Ostrzygalo are ranked No. 86 in doubles.

Arizona’s match against Illinois is scheduled for 7 a.m. PST.

Arizona is looking to improve on its appearance last season where it fell to Oklahoma in the opening round. If the Wildcats advance, they’ll likely face host Virginia who went 12-2 at home.

This story will be updated with specific start times for men’s tennis.

Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics