BERKELEY, Calif. - #15 Arizona defeated #33 Cal 4-3 in a tight 4.5 hour match at Hellman Tennis Complex to pick up their first conference win on Saturday, March 18. 

It was an all around fierce battle against the Golden Bears which saw the Wildcats take home the doubles point and three singles matches. In doubles, #58 Jonas Ziverts and Jay Friend started off strong with a 6-2 win against Siddhant Banthia and Carl Emil Overbeck. The fifth year and the freshman pair are now 5-3 and have been playing with each other in the No. 1 doubles lineup spot since their first match together against Pepperdine on Feb. 3. Wildcat junior duo Herman Hoeyeraal and Gustaf Strom fell 4-6 to #54 Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet at two doubles before Nick Lagaev and Colton Smith clinched the point, defeating Philip Hjorth and Yuta Kikuchi 6-4. Lagaev and Smith also clinched the doubles point against Stanford on Friday, March 17. 

The 'Cats absolutely rallied in singles against Cal with half of the matches splitting sets and producing six tiebreakers. Strom gave Arizona its first singles win after his straight set 6-2, 6-3 victory against Derrick Chen in the third lineup spot. At six singles, Hjorth bested Friend 6-4, 7-5 to put Cal on the board. #28 Ziverts extended Arizona's lead when he defeated #94 Jackson 6-2, 7-6(5) at two singles. The Wildcats suffered two losses in a row on courts one and four to put the Golden Bears right back in the game. #97 Hoeyeraal fell 6-7(9), 6-2, 3-6 to Overbeck at four singles and #78 Smith lost against #30 Kikuchi at one singles. The Wildcat won his first set 6-1 then lost in back to back tiebreakers which both ended 6-7(8). 

With the match tied up at 3-3, all eyes were on court five where #115 Lagaev battled it out against Banthia. The Wildcat fell 4-6 in the first set then fought back to win the second 7-6(5) and force a third set that also ended in a tiebreaker. The Arizona captain clinched the team's first conference victory after he defeated the Golden Bear 7-6(5). Men's Tennis is now 13-4 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 play. The team is headed back home to host a doubleheader against NM State on Saturday, March 25 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. MT. 

Results

#15 Arizona 4, #33 California 3

Doubles
1. No. 58 Jay Friend/Jonas Ziverts (Arizona) def. Siddhant Banthia/Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal), 6-2
2. No. 54 Ryder Jackson/Lucas Magnaudet (Cal) def. Herman Hoeyeraal/Gustaf Strom (Arizona), 6-4
3. Nick Lagaev/Colton Smith (Arizona) def. Philip Hjorth/Yuta Kikuchi (Cal), 6-4*
Order of Finish – 1, 2, 3*

Singles
1. No. 30 Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) def. No. 78 Colton Smith (Arizona), 1-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(8)
2. No. 38 Jonas Ziverts (Arizona) def. No. 94 Ryder Jackson (Cal), 6-2, 7-6(5)
3. Gustaf Strom (Arizona) def. Derrick Chen (Cal), 6-2, 6-3
4. Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) def. No. 97 Herman Hoeyeraal (Arizona), 7-6(9), 2-6, 6-3
5. No. 115 Nick Lagaev (Arizona) def. Siddhant Banthia (Cal), 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5)*
6. Philip Hjorth (Cal) def. Jay Friend (Arizona), 6-4, 7-5
Order of Finish – 6, 3, 2, 4, 1, 5*