BERKELEY, California – #15 Arizona defeated #33 Cal 4-3 in a tight 4.5 hour match at the Hellman Tennis Complex to claim their first conference win on Saturday, March 18th.
It was an all-around bitter fight against the Golden Bears, with the Wildcats taking home the colon and three singles games. In doubles #58 Jonas Ziverts And jay friend started strong with a 6-2 win over Siddhant Banthia and Carl Emil Overbeck. The fifth-year and freshman pair are now 5-3 and have played together since their first game together against Pepperdine on Feb. 3 at No. 1 on the doubles lineup. Wildcat Junior Duo Herman Hoeyeraal And Gustav Strom fell 4-6 to #54 Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet two doubles earlier Nick Lagayev And ColtonSmith took the point, defeating Philip Hjorth and Yuta Kikuchi 6-4. Lagaev and Smith also clinched the double against Stanford on Friday, March 17.
The ‘Cats rallied absolutely in singles against Cal, with half the games splitting sets and producing six tiebreakers. Strom gave Arizona its first singles win after his 6-2, 6-3 win over third-ranked Derrick Chen in a row. At six singles, Hjorth defeated Friend 6-4, 7-5 to put Cal on the board. #28 Ziverts extended Arizona’s lead as he defeated #94 Jackson 6-2, 7-6(5) in two singles. The Wildcats suffered back-to-back losses in first and fourth place to get the Golden Bears back in the game. #97 Hoeyeraal fell 6-7(9), 6-2, 3-6 to Overbeck in four singles and #78 Smith lost to #30 Kikuchi in one single. The Wildcat won their first set 6-1 and then lost in back-to-back tiebreaks, both ending 6-7 (8).
At 3-3, all eyes were on fifth place where #115 Lagaev battled Banthia. The Wildcat fell 4-6 in the first set but then fought back to take the second 7-6 (5) and force a decider that also ended in a tiebreak. The Arizona captain clinched the team’s first conference win after beating the Golden Bears 7-6 (5). Men’s tennis is now 13-4 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 play. The team returns home to host a doubleheader against NM State on Saturday, March 25 at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. MT.
Results
#15 Arizona 4, #33 California 3
double
1. No. 58 jay friend/Jonas Ziverts (Arizona) defeated. Siddhant Banthia/Carl Emil Overbeck (Kal), 6-2
2. No. 54 Ryder Jackson/Lucas Magnaudet (Cal) def. Herman Hoeyeraal/Gustav Strom (Arizona), 6-4
3. Nick Lagayev/ColtonSmith (Arizona) defeated. Philip Hjorth/Yuta Kikuchi (Kal), 6-4*
Finish order – 1, 2, 3*
singles
1. No. 30 Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) def. No. 78 ColtonSmith (Arizona), 1-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(8)
2. No. 38 Jonas Ziverts (Arizona) defeated. No. 94 Ryder Jackson (Cal), 6-2, 7-6(5)
3. Gustav Strom (Arizona) defeated. 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 Lagayev (Arizona) defeated. Siddhant Banthia (Kal), 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5)*
6. Philip Hjorth (Cal) defeated. jay friend (Arizona), 6-4, 7-5
Finish order – 6, 3, 2, 4, 1, 5*
