Arizona’s men’s and women’s tennis teams each qualified for the NCAA Tournament, finding out Monday their respective paths. The UA men are the No. 10 national seed and will host a regional featuring Denver, Harvard and Washington, while the UA women will play in Charlottesville, Va., against Illinois.
Both tourneys begin Friday, with second round action this weekend. Super regionals are on tap for May 9-11, with the final eight schools in each tournament heading to Waco, Texas on May 15.
Women’s tennis makes second straight NCAA tourney
The women’s team went 19-10 this season and is making back-to-back trips to the postseason for the first time since 2011-12.
Head coach Ryan Stotland addressed how there is familiarity when it comes to Illinois, as they faced each other two years ago where they split the two matchups.
“We played them here a couple years ago, actually twice, so it will be a really good matchup,” he said.
Stotland has never been to Virginia so the challenge will be getting his players to adjust to the time difference and long trip.
“The trip is the hard part, to get there and then settle in,” Stotland said. “We haven’t seen the times yet, we usually start in the morning. We don’t usually do a lot of 5 a.m. matchups here so we just have to get used to the time.”
In the Big 12 tournament, the Wildcats took Baylor to the brink but ultimately lost 4-3. Stotland doesn’t see the loss as something to dwell on but something to use going into the NCAA tournament.
“I think it really showed that we have the potential to beat anybody,” Stotland said. “I think that’s the momentum we needed.”
Senior Midori Castillo-Meza and junior Tanvi Narendran will lead the Wildcats into the tournament with 22 and 20 singles wins, respectively.
Men’s team staying home
The UA men’s squad is hosting in the NCAA tournament for the third straight year, and head coach Clancy Shields credits consistency within the program for this accomplishment.
“Anyone can do it, pull it off once and you’re flashing your hand, but we’ve done it consistently for the last five years,” Shields said. “To host on your home court is such a huge advantage.”
Coming off a Big 12 tournament championship, Shields recognized how it helped with putting the team in position to go far in the NCAA tournament.
“I’d rather set our goals extremely high and fall short, and it’s like ‘You feel short in the final four?’ that’s pretty good,” Shields said. “This year’s goal was to win the Big 12, to host the NCAA tournament, and to win a national championship, and we’re doing a couple of those.”
All season long the Wildcats have been led by senior Colton Smith, and it’s safe to say that he’s going to give everything in his final run.
Smith has 22 singles wins this season, but he’s a player who doesn’t look at individual stats. He is focused on the goals set out by the collective of the team.
“It’s the coolest thing to be able to do it with this group of guys, we got a super young team,” Smith said. “I’m just thrilled to be a part of it, and to get to stay in Tucson a little bit longer it means the world.”
Smith also talked about how the standard has only been raised since he first got onto campus, and the goal of a national championship has only gotten more and more realistic.
He credits Shields for keeping the team to that standard.
“That’s the standard he holds us to at practice, so if you’re not meeting that standard then you gotta check yourself at the door,” Smith said. “You got to rethink what your purpose is out there.”
Arizona has been able to sweep the opening rounds and advance to super regionals for the last two years. Smith adds that the ability to have home fans in attendance has contributed to that.
“To have the Arizona Army come back out and all the fans supporting us, I’m looking forward to it,” said Smith.