TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men's tennis team dropped to 9-13 on the season after failing to upset the 25th-ranked Oregon Ducks in the last match the Wildcats will play inside of LaNelle Robson Tennis Center this season, and the last home match of seniors Oliver Plaskett and Will Kneale's collegiate careers.
 
"I thought we played very well on Friday as well as today," said head coach Clancy Shields. "I think we didn't play that well in doubles and that has been an area concern all year for us, but the guys bounced back in singles and fought really hard. I think we were competitive on every court, and I think that if we finished the match, we'd get one or two of those (singles wins). We have to take a lot out of this weekend. I think we were in both of those matches against some very good teams. Oregon is top 25, Washington is top 35 so I feel like we are close. The guys just have to keep plugging away and getting better. It's all a process. We have to keep believing in what we are doing and the results will come down the road."
 
Oregon took the doubles point when juniors Shoki Kasahara and Trent Botha fell to the Duck's team of junior Cormac Clissold and sophomore Thomas Laurent on court two (6-3) not long before Plaskett and Kneale fell in a tough match to Oregon senior Jayson Amos and freshman Ty Gentry on court one (6-3).
 
Plaskett was the first Wildcat to finish his singles match. The Birmingham native beat Clissold on court five in his final singles match inside of LaNelle Robson (6-3, 6-4) to tie up the contest at 1-1.
 
"The seniors and I have been talking a lot in the past month about how it's all coming to an end," Shields said post-match, "and we decided they might as well just leave it all out here, and I think they did. I feel like our seniors really stepped up this entire weekend, and played with a lot of purpose and a lot of meaning. I've gained a lot of respect for them this weekend. We have three more weeks of Pac-12 play, and I want to get those seniors a conference win before they go."
 
Meparidze went back and forth against 28th ranked singles player, Thomas, but ended up falling by a score of 6-4, 6-3 on a competitive court one. Kasahara dropped his match to Amos on court four (7-5, 6-3) not long before Oregon junior Simon Stevens took down Kneale on court two (6-4, 7-5) to finalize the score at 4-1 in favor of Oregon.
 
The Wildcats have a week to prepare for their next conference contests as they will be in Los Angeles to take on No. 5 USC on Friday, April 14 followed by No. 10 UCLA on Sunday April 16.  
 
 
Doubles
Amos/Gentry (ORE) def. Kneale/Meparidze (UA) 6-3
Laurent/Clissold (ORE) def. Botha/Kasahara (UA) 6-3
Reyes/Meparidze(UA) vs. Stevens/Tanaka (ORE)5-2, UF
Order: 2, 1
 
 
Singles
No. 28 Laurent, Thomas (ORE) def. Meparidze,Shoti (UA) 6-4, 6-3
Stevens, Simon (ORE) def. Kneale, Will (UA) 6-4, 7-5
Botha, Trent (UA) vs. Tanaka, Akihiro (ORE) 6-4, 3-6, 1-1 UF
Amos, Jayson (ORE) def. Kasahara, Shoki (UA) 7-5, 6-3
Plaskett, Oliver (UA) def. Clissold, Comac (ORE) 6-3, 6-4
Reyes, Andres (UA) vs. Gentry, Ty (ORE) 3-6, 5-5 UF
Order: 5,1,4,2
 
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