Tucson, Ariz.- The Arizona men's tennis team is now 3-1 on the season after remaining perfect at home against two in-state opponents on Sunday, Feb 5th. The Wildcats took down Arizona Christian University by a score of 6-1 just a few hours before sweeping Mesa Community College. The victories not only mark the first home victories for the 2016-17 Wildcats, but also the first matches that first-year head coach Clancy Shields has coached inside of LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.

"I think it was expected," said Shields. "I think we did what we were supposed to do even though we came out a little flat this morning. I think we made improvements in the afternoon. We were playing better and it looked like some of the guys learned from their mistakes from the morning."

Arizona began the day playing doubles against Arizona Christian University where Senior Will Adkisson and freshman Alejandro Reguant took down junior Marcelo Balderrama and sophomore Scott Wheeler by a score of 6-3 on court three. Junior Shoki Kasahara and sophomore Shoti Meparidze lost a tough match to ACU sophomore Enzo Douillac and senior Ezequiel Suarez (6-3) bringing the doubles point to 1-1.

Senior Oliver Plaskett and junior Trent Botha couldn't close out a back and forth match that was decided via a tiebreaker. The Wildcat duo fell to sophomore Alberto Lapiedra and senior Seth Moore (7-6(4)) and Arizona began singles competition down 0-1.

Arizona didn't dwell on their doubles defeat, however. Reguant quickly tied things up with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Wheeler on court four. Kasahara finished just minutes later, defeating ACU's Moore on court five (6-0, 6-1) not long before Plaskett beat Galeffi (6-2, 6-0) on court six, bringing Arizona within one point of victory.

 Meparidze won the crucial fourth point for Arizona with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Lapiedra on court one, and Botha extended the lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Balderrama on court three. Senior Will Kneale completed the singles sweep with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Douillac on court two, finalizing the score at 6-1.
 
After their match against ACU, the Wildcats had just under two hours to prepare for Mesa Community College.
Arizona started strong in doubles against MCC. Kasahara and Reguant took down MCC sophomores Eduardo Couto and Matt Fisher (6-1) on court three not long before Meparidze and Kneale defeated sophomores David Felix and Andres Loaiza (6-2) on court two. With the doubles point already clenched, Plaskett and Botha finished their match, beating sophomores Linus Holthey and Noel Maurin (6-1) .

The Wildcats kept their momentum going into singles play where Kneale quickly increased the Wildcats lead to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Holthey on court two.

Kasahara brought the Wildcats within one point of victory with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Kim Dongung on court five not long before Botha sealed the deal with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on court four.

Meparidze's 6-2, 6-3 win over Felix on court one brought the score to 5-0, and Adkisson tacked on another point with his 6-2, 6-3 win on court six. Reguant, the last Wildcat to finish play, completed the sweep and remained undefeated on the weekend with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court three.

"It's not easy when a new coach comes in," said Shields.  "I'm very 'nitpicky' about all of the details, and I thought that we were just a little sloppy with our play. In tennis, those little details can transfer into larger problems, so I think in the morning we had some things that we messed up on, but we corrected it by the afternoon. I was happy that we grew throughout the day, and next weekend we are going to have to be much sharper."

The Wildcats have only five days to prepare for their next home match which will come against Utah State. The Aggies will visit their previous head coach (Clancy Shields) coming off of two impressive wins: a 4-1 victory over Wichita State on Jan. 28, and a 4-3 victory the following day against No. 12 TCU.
 
Arizona vs ACU Results

1. Moore/Lapiedra (ACU) def. Plaskett/Botha (UA) 7-6(4)
2. Douillac/Suarez (ACU) def. Kasahara/Meparidze (UA)  6-3
3. Adkisson/Reguant (UA) def.  Balderrama/Wheeler (ACU) 6-3

 
Singles

1. Meparidze (UA) def. Lapiedra (ACU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Kneale (UA) def. Douillac (ACU)  6-1, 6-3      
3. Botha (UA) def. Balderrama (ACU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Reguant (UA) def. Wheeler (ACU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Kasahara (UA) def. Moore (ACU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Plaskett (UA) def. Galeffi (ACU) 6-2, 6-0

 
 
Arizona vs MCC Results

1. Plaskett/Botha (UA) def. Holthey/Maurin (MCC) 6-1
2. Meparidze/Kneale (UA) def. Felix/Loaiza (MCC) 6-2
3. Kasahara/Reguant (UA) def. Couto/Fisher (MCC) 6-1

Singles

1. Meparidze (UA) def. Felix (MCC) 6-2, 6-3
2. Kneale (UA) def. Holthey (MCC) 6-1, 6-1
3. Reguant (UA) def. Fisher (MCC) 6-2, 6-4
4. Botha (UA) def. Loaiza (MCC) 6-4, 6-0
5. Kasahara (UA) def. Dongung (MCC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Adkisson (UA) def. Eduardo (MCC) 6-2, 6-3

 
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