NCAA Sweet 16: No. 15 Arizona vs. No. 3 Ohio State
When: Saturday, May 13 at 9 a.m. MST
Where: Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus, Ohio
Team records: Arizona (23-6 overall, 6-2 Pac-12), Ohio State (31-2, 9-0 Big Ten)
SERIES: It will be the first-ever matchup between the Arizona Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
MAKING NCAA HISTORY: The 2023 NCAA Tournament marks the Wildcats’ 12 postseason appearance as well as the second Sweet 16 appearance in program history after first achieving the feat during the 2021 season. Arizona opened this postseason by hosting the opening round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, which concluded with sweeps of No. 63 Boise State and No. 44 Oklahoma State in front of capacity crowds at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION: The No. 3 Buckeyes and Big Ten tournament and regular season champions boast an overall record of 31-2. Their only losses this spring were to Texas at the ITA Indoors tournament on Feb. 18 and to South Carolina on March 8. Ohio State is currently on a 16-week win streak and have five Buckeyes ranked in the top-50 singles along with three top-25 doubles pairs: No. 11 Cannon Kingsley, No. 22 JJ Tracy, No. 24 Justin Boulais, No. 34 James Trotter, No. 41 Alexander Bernard, No. 16 Andrew Lutschaunig/Trotter, No. 20 Tracy/Lutschaunig and No. 21 Boulais/Robert Cash.
RANKED WILDCATS: No. 15 Arizona has been a consistent ITA top-20 team for the entire season along with having at least three ranked singles players since the first poll in November 2022 and one ranked doubles pair since March 7. Representing Arizona in the latest singles and doubles polls are No. 40 Jonas Ziverts, No. 55 Colton Smith, No. 114 Gustaf Strom in addition to No. 70 Ziverts/Jay Friend and No. 79 Ziverts/Herman Hoeyeraal.
RAISING ARIZONA: Arizona Men’s Tennis has cemented its place among the nation’s elite tennis programs over its recent meteoric rise. In addition to earning the first two Sweet 16 appearances in a three-year span, the Wildcats have won back-to-back Pac-12 Championships after competing in the conference for 43 seasons without a title. Head Coach Clancy Shields was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021, becoming the first coach in program history to be named the conference coach of the year in multiple…
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