TUCSON – No. 22 Colton Smith and No. 35 Jay Friend will represent Arizona in the NCAA Men’s Singles Championships set to begin Monday, May 20. The appearances are the second of Smith’s career and the first of Friend’s.
Friend will play first, taking on No. 17 Cannon Kingsley of Ohio State [9-16] at 9:30 a.m. Monday while Smith will open the tournament against Toledo’s No. 65 Pawit Sornlaksup at 12:00 p.m. MST. Matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Smith enters the NCAA Singles Championships with a 30-10 singles record that includes 15 wins over nationally-ranked opponents. He tallied 14 wins during dual match play and played exclusively at the No. 1 singles spot. In the 2023 NCAA Singles Championships he took then-No. 11 Kingsley to three sets but ultimately fell in the opening round. Smith’s 30 singles wins this season are a program best, and he garnered All-Pac-12 First Team accolades for the second consecutive season.
Friend has amassed a 25-11 record in singles during his sophomore campaign, playing primarily at No. 2 singles but making appearances at the No. 1 position as well. He has tallied eight ranked wins, including a defeat of No. 57 Samir Banerjee in the Pac-12 Championship final that put Arizona one point away from sweeping the Cardinal and clinching the team title.
Follow @ArizonaMTennis on X for match updates throughout the NCAA Singles Championships.
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