Men's Tennis Set For ITA Southwest Regional Play in Malibu
ITA Southwest Regional Draws | Regional Championship Central
TUCSON, Ariz.--- The University of Arizona men’s tennis team gets back to work, as it sends six athletes to the ITA Southwest Regional Championships this weekend in Malibu, California.
Championship play begins on Friday with doubles action at 8:30 a.m. MST inside the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and out at the Crest Tennis Courts. Competition will conclude on Tuesday, with the respective singles and doubles champions gaining automatic entry into the ITA National Indoor Championships on Nov. 6-9 in Flushing, New York.
“This will be a great test for us, considering our region is the toughest in the country,” said head coach Tad Berkowitz. “This event gives our guys a great opportunity to compete with some of the best players in all of Division I tennis.”
Jason Jaruvang, Matt Dunn, Romain Boudaroua, Naoki Takeda, David Mushayev, and Shoki Kasahara will represent the Cats this weekend, as they’ll go up against four ranked squads from a year ago, in No. 1 and defending national champion USC, No. 3 UCLA, No. 31 San Diego, and No. 68 San Diego State.
Athletes from UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Hawaii, LMU, and Grand Canyon will also join Arizona this weekend.
Kasahara looks to keep his positive momentum rolling, as he enters tournament play as hot as can be, coming off of his first collegiate tournament championship two weekends ago at the San Diego State Invitational. The freshman rattled off five consecutive victories, including a convincing straight-set, 6-3, 6-2 win over Grand Canyon University’s Alexandre Martinez to claim his very first singles championship. Kasahara has only dropped one set overall so far this fall.
Naoki also enters the weekend looking to keep his strong play going, as he sports a dominant 4-1 record in singles play so far this fall.
All three doubles tandems will be competing together for the first time this season.
DOUBLES OPENING ROUND MATCHUPS
Round of 64- Boudaroua/ Mushayev (Arizona) vs. Karl/ Solonim (Pepperdine) | Friday 10/17, 8:30 a.m.
Round of 64- Kasahara/ Takeda (Arizona) vs. Balenci/ Ouananian (Grand Canyon) | Friday 10/17, 8:30 a.m.
Round of 32- Dunn/ Jaruvang (Arizona) vs. Masciorini/Riminton (UCSB) | Saturday 10/18, TBA
SINGLES OPENING ROUND MATCHUPS
Round of 128- Matt Dunn (Arizona) vs. Max Bower-Stelter (SDSU) | Friday, 10/17, 9:45 a.m.
Round of 128- Naoki Takeda (Arizona) vs. Todd Volmari (LMU) | Friday, 10/17, 9:45 a.m.
Round of 128- Shoki Kasahara (Arizona) vs. Sebastian Heim (UCI) | Friday, 10/17, 9:45 a.m.
Round of 64- David Mushayev (Arizona) vs. Jonas Meinzer (SDSU) | Friday, 10/17, 11:15 a.m.
Round of 128- Jason Jaruvang (Arizona) vs. Austin J. Rapp (UCLA) | Friday, 10/17, 11:15 a.m.
Round of 128- Romain Boudaroua (Arizona) vs. Luke S. Bohuslav (LMU) | Friday, 10/17, 11:15 a.m.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, Oct. 17: 8:30 a.m., 1 round of doubles, 2 rounds of singles
Saturday, Oct. 18: 8:30 a.m., 1 round doubles; 2 rounds of singles, consolation
Sunday, Oct. 19: TBA, 1 round of singles, 2 rounds of doubles, consolation matches
Monday, Oct. 20: TBA, singles & doubles semifinals, consolation finals
Tuesday, Oct. 21: TBA, Singles Championship; Doubles Championship
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