Jonas Ziverts

Jonas Ziverts' upset of his Kentucky opponent helped the Wildcats advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

 Photo courtesy of Arizona athletics

The UA men's tennis team made program history on Saturday, beating host Kentucky to advance to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 for the first time.

The 18th-ranked Wildcats advance to the next round, which begins May 17 in Orlando, Florida. They'll take on either No. 3 overall seed Tennessee or Memphis; the teams are scheduled to play Sunday morning.

Arizona (21-7) was paced on Saturday by Jonas Ziverts, who upset Kentucky's Gabriel Diallo 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 in singles play to clinch the victory. Herman Hoeyeraal and Carlos Hassey also won their singles matches, and the teams of Ziverts and Hoeyeraal and Hassey and Alejando Reguant won their doubles matches.

Hassey and Reguant beat Diallo and Cesar Bourgois, the nation's sixth-ranked doubles team. Diallo was also ranked No. 14 in singles play.

Saturday's win marked another major step for coach Clancy Shields' Wildcats, who finished tied for second in the Pac-12 Conference standings and then upset 12th-ranked Michigan 4-3 in Friday's NCAA Tournament opener. Kentucky (19-9) was ranked 15th in the country.

In a video posted to the team's Twitter feed, Shields said the UA's win showed "who the true Wildcats are."

"This team’s got the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen," he added. "I look at this team, and I see hours and hours of hard work."

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