Arizona Releases 2015 Spring Slate

TUCSON, Ariz.--- The Wildcats will take on 11 ranked opponents and play six NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, as ninth-year head coach Tad Berkowitz announced Arizona’s 2015 spring schedule on Wednesday.

The Cats enter the new campaign full of promise, as they boast eight upperclassmen a welcome in five newcomers looking to propel Arizona back to the top of the Pac-12 conference.

UA will begin the spring slate with the ITA Kickoff Classic, as it’ll host UC Irvine, No. 41 Texas Tech, and No. 60 New Mexico in one of the most prestigious tournaments in Division I tennis on Jan. 16-19th.

The Cats will then continue their season-long 13-match homestand with matches against UC Riverside (Jan 24th), San Francisco (Jan. 30th), New Mexico State (Feb. 1st), in-state rival Northern Arizona (Feb. 6th), and Utah State (Feb. 8th), before concluding with a couple of matches against ranked foes from a year ago in No. 67 Nevada on Feb. 14th and No. 65 Tulane on Feb. 16th.

Arizona will then hit the road for nine consecutive matches beginning with the HEB Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas on March 6-7th, before making the trek west to clash with Fresno State on March 19th.

The Wildcats will continue their road swing in Idaho, as they’ll play No. 29 Boise State on March 21st and Cal Poly on March 22nd. With the Boise State match begins arguably Arizona’s toughest stretch of the season, as seven of its final eight regular season contests will come against ranked teams from last season, while five of those teams qualified for postseason play.

The Cats will kick off conference play at No. 16 California on March 27th and at No. 32 Stanford on March 28th, before concluding their California road trip at 2014 NCAA semifinalist No. 3 UCLA on April 3rd.

UA will finish off the regular season with back-to-back home affairs against No. 43 Oregon on April 10th and No. 66 Washington on April 12th in the team’s final home matches of the year before wrapping up regular season action at No. 57 Utah on April 18th.

Pac-12 Tournament play will go from April 22-25thin Ojai, California, while NCAA Tournament action begins on May 8th.

FIVE MATCHES TO WATCH FOR

Jan. 16 vs. UC Irvine- Marks regular season opener and start of prestigious ITA Kickoff event…Arizona has won six of its last seven season openers going back to 2008.

Jan. 17 vs. Texas Tech- Represents UA’s first test against an NCAA postseason team from a year ago.

March 21 at Boise State- Marks stretch where Arizona will take on seven ranked opponents from a year ago in its final eight matches of the regular season.

April 3 at UCLA- Cats will clash with 2014 national semifinalist UCLA. Bruins ended 2014 ranked No. 3 in the final spring ITA poll.

April 12 vs. Washington- Final regular season home match…also marks final collegiate home match for seniors Carlos Bermudez, Robin Chou, Ben Lee, and Sumeet Shinde.

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