Arizona Opens at Home with NAU, UC Riverside

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men’s tennis team returns to Tucson to begin their home season Friday Jan. 24 as they take on Northern Arizona at 12:30 p.m. at the Tucson Country Club. Arizona will compete against UC Riverside on the weekend as well, facing them Sunday Jan. 26 at 11 a.m., also at the Tucson Country Club.

Live stats for the weekend’s matches can be found at www.arizona.statb.us

“We played both teams last year and they compete very well,” head coach Tad Berkowitz said. “Division I men’s college tennis is very deep and we look for a couple of tough matches this weekend.”

Arizona’s first four home matches will be played off-campus, with this weekend at the Tucson Country Club and next weekend’s at Reffkin Tennis Center.

“It’s good to get out into the community and be more accessible to people,” said assistant coach Arron Spencer. “It’s fun to get out there and hopefully it will draw fans in when we play at Robson.”

Arizona is coming off a 2-4 finish in a six-match weekend, defeating UC Irvine twice and falling two times each to Texas A&M Corpus Christi and No. 67 New Mexico.

“We’re focusing on taking advantage of opportunities,” said Spencer. “We played good tennis last weekend; we took opportunities but we let some slip.”

For more information and directions to the Tucson Country Club, visit www.tucsoncountryclub.com

On Northern Arizona

The Lumberjacks will begin their 2014 campaign against Arizona on Friday. It features a young team of five juniors and three freshmen. Northern Arizona finished last season at 4-19, and 1-9 in the Big Sky Conference, and are coached by Ki Kroll

On UC Riverside

Their match against Arizona will be the Highlanders’ fourth on the season.  Head Coach Tim Downey‘s squad opened the season with a pair of losses to Nevada and No. 49 San Diego State, bringing them to 0-2 before this weekend’s matchups against Northern Arizona and Arizona. Last year Riverside compiled a 3-21 record, including 0-6 in the Big West Conference.  The senior-less team returns five letter-winners.

For continued coverage of Arizona men’s tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, follow @ArizonaMTennis on Twitter and Instagram, and on Facebook at facebook.com/ArizonaMensTennis.