In the last-ever Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Championships, Arizona won its first-ever conference tournament title.
Arizona men’s tennis defeated Stanford 4-0 Saturday night in Ojai, Calif. to take home the championship, marking a new milestone for the program under coach Clancy Shields.
#ArizonaTennis x #BearDown pic.twitter.com/X2hpSUg3jP
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 28, 2024
Arizona (24-3) split the regular season Pac-12 championship with Stanford. The Cardinal were the only team to beat Arizona in conference play, taking down the Wildcats in Tucson last month.
Arizona avenged itself Saturday.
Arizona’s doubles pairs of Sasha Rozin/Gustaf Strom and Jay Friend/Colton Smith won the team’s first point of the night. Friend and Smith staved off Stanford with a 7-6 (10-8) tiebreaker to clinch the point.
THIS IS ARIZONA TENNIS.
#31 Smith/Friend grab the doubles point for the Cats in a marathon tiebreaker over #49 Basing/Godsick 7-6(8)#ArizonaTennis x #BearDown pic.twitter.com/AFU22kEZ6N
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 28, 2024
The momentum from doubles play carried over into singles action.
Strom delivered Arizona’s second point of the night with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court No. 3. Moments later, Arizona got its third point when Friend closed out his opponent 6-2, 0-6, 6-1 on court No. 2.
Arizona, up 3-0, appeared to be losing ground when Stanford won the opening set in all four of the other singles matches. However, the Wildcats hung around by winning the second second in each remaining match.
Before Stanford could put a point on the board, Arizona’s Nick Lagaev tucked away the championship with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win on the No. 6 court.
THE MOMENT #ArizonaTennis x #BearDown pic.twitter.com/VeZkIay6AY
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 28, 2024
After back-to-back years of winning the Pac-12 regular season and then coming up short at Pac-12 Championships, the Wildcats finally got over the hump.
“This team has worked their butts off all season,” Shields said. “They’ve earned this moment. Tonight is about more than just winning a championship. It’s the end of an era, and we’re going out on top.”
Hear from @CoachShieldsUA and Nick after our Pac-12 Championship!#ArizonaTennis x #BearDown pic.twitter.com/IzFikSqDeP
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 28, 2024
Arizona entered Pac-12 Championships ranked No. 10 in the country. The Wildcats are all but guaranteed to be one of the 16 teams to host an NCAA Regional when the NCAA Tournament selections are announced Monday.