TUCSON, Ariz.--- Arizona clinched its first victory of the season Monday morning, as it earned a gritty 4-1 victory over No. 61 New Mexico. Read below for full results.
Monday, Jan. 19, 2015
10:00 am MST
Arizona 4 (1-4), No. 61 New Mexico 1 (3-2)
SINGLES
1. Sumeet Shinde (UA) def. Mitcheil McDaniels (UNM) 6-3, 6-1
2. Naoki Takeda (UA) vs. Hayden Sabatka (UNM) 4-6, 6-1, 0-0 unfinished
3. Jason Jaruvang (UA) def. Bart Van Leijsen (UNM) 6-2, 6-3
4. David Mushayev (UA) def. Rodolfo Jauregui (UNM) 7-6, 3-6, 6-3
5. Shoki Kasahara (UA) def. James Hignett (UNM) 6-0, 6-7, 7-6
6. Augustus Ge (UNM) def. Trevor James (UA) 6-1, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3,6,1,5,4*
DOUBLES
None Played
Recap: Arizona (1-4) posted its best performance on the early season, as it cruised to an impressive 4-1 victory over No. 61 New Mexico (3-2) Monday morning out at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center, in its first match of the third and final day of ITA Pre Kick-Off play.
The win marks Arizona's first win of the season, while it improves to 1-2 against ranked opponents this season.
Jason Jaruvang set the tone early for Arizona from the No. 3 spot, as he easily took down Bart Van Leijsen, 6-2, 6-3 to put the Cats on top 1-0.
However Arizona's lead wouldn't last long, as New Mexico quickly knotted things back up at 1-1, as Augustus Ge took down Trevor James, 6-1, 7-5 on court six.
But the Wildcats refused to give in, as they responded with three straight victories to clinch the match.
Sumeet Shinde showed why he's one of the senior leaders on this year's squad, as he stepped up and earned a convincing 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mitcheil McDaniels from the No. 1 position to sport the Cats a 2-1 lead.
Arizona continued to pour it on, as Shoki Kasahara grinded out a gutsy 6-0, 6-7, 7-6 win from the No. 5 position to push the Wildcats to the brink of victory, as they held a 3-1 advantage.
Then it was David Mushayev who came through with the all-important fourth and match-clinching point for the Cats, as he held on for a dramatic 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 win over Rodolfo Jauregui to bring the final score to 4-1.
Arizona looks to make it back-to-back victories for the first time this season, as it'll take on No. 41 Texas Tech later on today at approximately 2:00 p.m. MST in its final match of the weekend.
ARIZONA POSTMATCH QUOTES
Head Coach Tad Berkowitz
“It's a well-deserved win for our guys. They just kept at it and played with a ton of toughness. For Shoki to beat their senior captain in January is huge. I give him and our freshmen a lot of credit today. They had to step up for us and they did."
Freshman David Mushayev
"I am really excited for our first team win. Shoki had a great match too. Everyone was fighting and giving it their all on the courts this morning. That is what it is going to take for us to win.”
