TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona men's tennis defeated Utah State, 4-3 on Thursday at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. The Wildcats improve to 10-7 on the season with the win.

“Today wasn't our best day collectively as a group but for us to still win shows the guys' maturity,” said head coach Tad Berkowitz. “And especially turning it around after losing a highly competitive match the other day, to turn it around and get the win shows a lot of maturity.”

Arizona Seniors Kieren Thompson and Trevor James started off strong in doubles play taking down Sean Levesque and Andrew Whiting, 8-2 at the No. 3 spot.

Arizona sophomore Naoki Takeda and Junior Sumeet Shinde defeated Dennis Baumgartner and Marcus Fritz, 8-5 at the No. 1 spot to clinch the doubles point.

In singles play Thompson took care of business by beating Dennis Baumgartner, 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot.

Takeda defeated Fredrik Peterson, 6-1, 6-1, and James took advantage of his second start by beating Sean Levesque, 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 3.

“Trevor is one of the hardest workers on our team, he started out the year not even traveling,” Berkowitz said.  “We had a couple of things happen that pushed him into the lineup and he is seizing the opportunity. He deserves it; I'm so proud watching him play because he wants it so bad.”

The Wildcats are back at Robson Tennis Center this weekend to host Fresno State on Saturday, March 15 at 12 p.m. and St. Mary's on Sunday, March 16 at 11 a.m.

For continued coverage of Arizona men's tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, follow @ArizonaMTennis on Twitter and Instagram, and on Facebook at facebook.com/ArizonaMensTennis.

Doubles

1. Naoki Takeda/Sumeet Shinde (ARIZ) def. Dennis Baumgartner/Marcus Fritz (USUM) 8-5

2. Mario Urquidi/Matt Dunn (ARIZ) def. Sebastian Schneider/Matt Sweet (USUM) 6-5

3. Kieren Thompson/Trevor James (ARIZ) def. Sean Levesque/Andrew Whiting (USUM) 8-2

Singles

1. Kieren Thompson (ARIZ) def. Dennis Baumgartner (USUM) 6-0, 6-1

2. Marcus Fritz (USUM) def. Sumeet Shinde (ARIZ) 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)

3. Naoki Takeda (ARIZ) def. Fredrik Peterson (USUM) 6-1, 6-1

4. Matt Sweet (USUM) def. Mario Urquidi (ARIZ) 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (11-9)

5. Sebastian Schneider (USUM) def. Matt Dunn (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-1

6. Trevor James (ARIZ) def. Sean Levesque (USUM) 6-1, 6-0

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,1,5,3,4,2)

-- ArizonaWildcats.com --