University of Washington
Arizona
Huskies Come Out On Top In Battle With Arizona
April 07, 2017 | Men's Tennis
TUCSON, Ariz. โ In a tight match the Washington men's tennis team was able to grab the win today, picking up their first Pac-12 victory at Arizona with a 4-3 win at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
"Arizona is a tough team," said head coach Matt Anger. "They competed very well and made everything difficult for us, it's not easy to play here."
To begin the day the Wildcats claimed the first doubles match to finish on court one, before the Huskies responded with a 6-4 win on court three by Amit Batta and Wendell Watanabe. On court two however, Arizona came out on top of a close match with a 7-5 victory to go up 1-0.
Looking to bounce back, Piers Foley was the first to respond with a win on court five 7-5, 6-3, but Arizona reclaimed the lead with a win on court four. On court one, Mitch Stewart evened the score back at 2-2 with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Shoti Meparidze.
On court two Enzo Sommer fell to Will Kneale 7-5, 6-4 but Sebastian Hawken gave the Dawgs the tie yet again, with a huge three-set victory on court six 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. With the match in the hands of court three, Jake Douglas entered a third set with Trent Botha.
In the first set, the junior from Rolling Hills, Calif. won a marathon tie break 12-10 to take the 7-6 win, but was unable to win the second set tie break, falling 6-7 (6-8). In the third set however, Douglas took a one game lead at 2-1 and continued to trade points, eventually sitting at 3-3. To clinch the win for the Huskies, Douglas won three straight games for a 7-6(12-10), 6-7(6-8), 6-3 win to give Washington their first conference victory, and 12th win on the year.
"This was a great match for the Huskies to fight through, with the different conditions than we are used to playing in," said Douglas. "Arizona is a very tough team to play at their place, and we had great team spirit today to get the win."
The Huskies will take tomorrow off and travel north to Salt Lake City to face Utah Sunday April 9th at noon. Sunday's match will be the first televised contest for the Huskies this season, which can be viewed on the Pac-12 Networks.
RESULTS
No. 35 Washington โ 4
Arizona โ 3
Doubles
1 โ Kneale/Plaskett (UA) def. Douglas/Foley (UW) 6-3
2 โ Botha/Kasahara (UA) def. Lam/Sommer (UW) 7-5
3 โ Batta/Watanabe (UW) def. Meparidze/Reyes (UA) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1 โ No. 95 Mitch Stewart (UW) def. Shoti Meparidze (UA) 7-5, 6-3
2 โ Will Kneale (UA) def. Enzo Sommer (UW) 7-5, 6-4
3 โ Jake Douglas (UW) def. Trent Botha (UW) 7-6(12-10), 6-7(6-8), 6-3
4 โ Shoki Kasahara (UA) def. Gal Hakak (UW) 6-4, 6-3
5 โ Piers Foley (UW) def. Oliver Plaskett (UA) 7-5, 6-3
6 โ Sebastian Hawken (UW) def. Andres Reyes (UA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 2, 6, 3
Players Mentioned
