Orlando, Fla.- The Arizona men's tennis team will kick off their spring season with three matches that are set to be played at the UTSA National Campus in Orlando.

The Wildcats will face their first opponent, 23rd-ranked Texas Tech, on Friday, Jan 13th at 11 a.m. MST. After their first match of the spring season and first-year head coach Clancy Shield's first dual match since taking over the program, the team will have only a night's rest before taking on New Mexico the following day at 3 p.m. MST. Arizona will then have Sunday to recover before competing against the University of Central Florida on Monday, January 16 at 8 a.m. MST.

"This first weekend will tell us a lot about where we are as a group and what we need to do for the next few months to get better," said Shields. "The first weekend is just basically our measuring stick and then we just have to get back here and continue to train and get better."
          
The Wildcats will be entering the spring season with some momentum after a successful outing at the San Diego Invitational in late October of 2016. Freshman Alejandro Reguant went 3-1 in singles play in California as did Senior Shoki Kasahara. Kasahara (4-2), Reguant (4-3), and senior Will Kneale (4-3) are all entering dual play with four wins.

Coach Shields was very happy with what he saw in San Diego, and thinks the improvements that his team has made will be magnified once team competition starts.

"I thought we ended on a really strong note," said Shields. "I thought our guys were competing really well as a team, and I say 'as a team' because I thought we weren't really competing as individuals which is something we worked on. I think the guys will play much better in the spring season when they are playing as a unit, so I am excited for that."

Event Information
Dates: January 13-16
Location: USTA National Campus Orlando, Florida
Facility: USTA National Campus 10000 USTA Blvd., Orlando FL
Twitter Updates: @ArizonaMTennis

The Field
No. 23 Texas Tech, New Mexico, University of Central Florida

Who's Competing for the Wildcats
Will Kneale
Oliver Plaskett
Shoki Kasahara 
Trent Botha
Shoti Meparidze
Will Adkisson
Alejandro Reguant      

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