TUCSON – Seventh-ranked Arizona men’s tennis secured its first home Pac-12 win of the season on Friday, defeating No. 59 California 4-1 and handing the Golden Bears their first conference loss of the season.
Arizona (17-2, 3-0 Pac-12) took the doubles point with a pair of wins on courts two and three. Herman Hoeyeraal and Eric Padgham took a lead on court two and never looked back, going up 4-2 on Lucas Magnaudet and Timothy Stepanov before getting the eventual 6-3 victory.
Court one proved to be a battle as No. 12 Alex Chang and Mikey Wright took an early lead. No. 24 Colton Smith and Jay Friend came back, evening the score at 4-4 . The court knotted up again at 5-5, but Smith and Friend won the final two games to secure the 7-5 victory.
The Golden Bears (7-7, 2-1 Pac-12) got on the board with a straight-set win on court two in singles. Alex Chang defeated No. 26 Friend 6-4, 6-1 to even the team score at one apiece.
Casper Christensen notched the Cats’ first singles win of the day, posting a straight-set victory over Jonathan Irwanto 6-4, 6-2. Moments later, No. 97 Hoeyeraal closed out a 7-5, 6-3 win over Qian Sun on court four. The win was Hoeyeraal’s 13th-straight.
The remaining three singles courts all went to third sets, and it was Nick Lagaev who clinched the eventual team win for Arizona. Lagaev gutted out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Magnaudet.
Arizona will take on No. 33 Stanford Saturday, March 30 at 2:30 p.m. MST at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
Results
#7 Arizona 4, #59 California 1
Doubles Competition
Order of finish: 2, 1
- #24 Colton Smith/Jay Friend def. #12 Alex Chang/Mikey Wright, 7-5
- Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham def. Lucas Magnaudet/Timofey Stepanov 6-3
- Alexander Rozin/Gustaf Strom vs. Carl Emil Overbeck/Qian Sun, 6-5 unfinished
Singles Competition
Order of finish: 2, 6, 4, 5
- #14 Colton Smith vs. #102 Carl Emil Overbeck 6-7(9), 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
- Alex Chang def. #26 Jay Friend, 6-4, 6-1
- #80 Gustaf Strom vs. Timofey Stepanov 6-3, 4-6, 4-1, unfinished
- #97 Herman Hoeyeraal def. Qian Sun 7-5, 6-3
- Nick Lagaev def. Lucas Magnaudet 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
- Casper Christensen def. Jonathan Irwanto 6-4, 6-2
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