Huskies Host No. 36 Waves In Midweek Showdown

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY MEN’S TENNIS

#51 Washington hosts #36 Pepperdine, 5 pm

Friday, Apr. 7 | Tempe, Ariz.

#51 Washington at #46 Arizona State, 6 pm

Sunday, Apr. 9 | Tucson, Ariz.

#51 Washington at #12 Arizona, 12 pm

SEATTLE – A major new opportunity has been given to the Husky men’s tennis team this week, as 36th-ranked Pepperdine visits this Wednesday, for a 5 p.m. clash at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The recently scheduled match gives the 51st-ranked Huskies another chance to battle against a perennial NCAA tourney contender and go for their second top-40 win of the season.

After the showdown with Pepperdine, Washington gets right back into Pac-12 play, heading on the road to Tempe and Tucson to face the 46th-ranked Sun Devils this Friday, at 6 p.m. followed by a meeting with No. 12 Arizona on Sunday at 12 noon.

 

The Huskies (10-5, 1-1 Pac-12) are coming off a tough 4-2 loss to Oregon last Saturday and nothing would be better than to rebound quickly against a Waves team that beat the Huskies in the NCAA Championships first round last spring. Pepperdine comes in at 10-7 and has won four in a row, including a 4-3 win over California. Its last loss was a tight 3-4 setback against 10th-ranked USC.

 

Daniel De Jonge is ranked 69th for the Waves and Tim Zeitvogel is ranked 94th. De Jonge and Zeitvogel also rank 47th as a doubles pair. Last year, De Jonge was an NCAA Singles qualifier and was First Team All-WCC. Freshman Maxi Homberg has the most dual wins this season with a 10-5 record, playing from three through six.

Arizona State is 11-8 on the season and 0-4 in Pac-12 play, though with a 4-0 sweep of Oregon is a non-conference match. The Sun Devils dropped a tight 4-3 match to UCLA last time out. They also have big wins over Pepperdine, Baylor, and San Diego. ASU is led by 49th-ranked sophomore Murphy Cassone who was the Pac-12 and National Rookie of the Year last season. 

The Wildcats are 17-4 on the season and are 3-1 in Pac-12 play, having just swept the L.A. schools last week. They also split with the Bay Area squads, getting a 4-3 win over Cal but losing 4-3 to Stanford. Arizona is the defending regular season Pac-12 Champions, but the Huskies upset the Wildcats in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals last year, helping propel the Huskies to NCAAs. In singles, Jonas Eriksson Ziverts is ranked 32nd nationally, while Colton Smith is ranked 64th, though Smith has been playing in the top spot….