ORLANDO, Fla.- The Arizona men's tennis team along with first year head coach Clancy Shields kicked-off their rain delayed season today at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, beating the University of New Mexico by a score of 4-1. The Wildcats will rest Sunday before taking on the University of Central Florida on Monday, January 16 at 8 a.m. MST.
 
"I am proud of our team today," said Shields. "I thought we came out, focused, and played with poise. We got a little sloppy as the match went on and let our opponents back in. We have got to improve some of our practice habits and get more disciplined with finished points and matches."
 
The Wildcats went into singles competition up 1-0 after winning a hard fought doubles point. Sophomore Shoti Meparidze and junior Shoki Kasahara fell to UNM's Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Rodolfo Jauregui on court two (0-6), but a win by senior Oliver Plaskett and junior Trent Botha on court one over Bart Van Leijsen and Dominic West (6-2) tied things up. Junior Will Adkisson and freshman Alejandro Reguant secured the doubles point with a 6-3 win over UNM's Sean Baklini and Jorge Escutia on court three.
 
Arizona didn't let up in singles play. A 6-2, 7-5 win by Reguant over Escutia on court five made the score 2-0, and senior Will Kneale brought Arizona within one point of victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jauregui on court three. Meparidze won the crucial fourth point for Arizona in a tough, three set affair on court over Van Leijsen (6-3, 2-6, 6-4), giving the Wildcats the win.
 
"I found out we have a really good freshman in Alejandro," said Shields. "Kneale played a complete match and played with a lot of toughness, and Shoti came up with a big win in our top spot."
 
Arizona doesn't have long to prepare for their next match as they are scheduled to play UCF at the USTA National Campus on Monday, January 16 at 8 a.m. MST. UCF is coming off of an impressive win today over No 23 Texas Tech.
 
"We have a great opportunity against a good UCF team on Monday," said Shields "They just knocked off a top-25 team tonight, so we will need to be ready to go."
 
Doubles
1. Plaskett/Botha (UA) def. Van Leijsen/West (UNM) 6-2
2. Hernandez-Tong/Jauregui (UNM) def. Meparidze/Kasahara (UA) 6-0
3. Adkisson/Reguant def. Baklini/Escutia 6-3

Singles

1. Meparidze (UA) def. Van Leijsen (UNM) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2. Hernandez Tong (UNM) def. Botha (UA) 6-1, 6-3
3. Kneale (UA) def. Jauregui (UNM) 6-2, 6-4
4. Kasahara (UA) vs. West (UNM) 6-0, 2-6, 2-2 U
5. Reguant (UA) def. Escutia (UNM) 6-2, 7-4
6. Plaskett (UA) vs. Baklini (UNM) 6-4, 5-7 UF

 
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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