The stakes are bigger, but the No.-14 seeded UA men's tennis team is viewing the program’s first-ever NCAA regional in Tucson no differently than any other match during the regular season.
“I think that’s what we try, to normalize (that) it’s just another match,” UA coach Clancy Shields said as his team prepared for a first-round match against Boise State. “We preach this every day in our program, showing up the same way every day, so what’s the difference when we show up on Friday? It’s the same thing we’ve done all year long, and if we make it to Saturday, it’s the same thing. I think that’s the motto of our program.
“The ramifications are certainly higher, but when you get on the tennis court, you don’t bring that baggage with you out there.”
After last season when the players and coaches thought they were hosting before finding out they would be traveling to North Carolina for the regional, the team was prepared to travel if they weren’t selected to host this year. When they heard their name called as a host, it was “a big sigh of relief."
“It definitely felt like a big weight was lifted off the shoulders off the guys,” Colton Smith said. “Last year, we thought we were hosting for sure.
“It’s super cool to see everybody come together working for the team to make this event special.”
“It definitely felt like a big weight was lifted off the shoulders off the guys,” said UA’s Colton Smith of Tucson hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. “Last year, we thought we were hosting for sure.”
Boise State enters this weekend with momentum after winning the Mountain West Conference championship.
“They have nothing to lose,” Shields said. “They’re going to come in here swinging away. I think that’s a dangerous team when they’re playing with nothing to lose, and we’re playing with everything to lose. We just have to go in with the mentality of we’re playing another practice. We’re going to focus on the things that we have to control. If we play up to the level of what we can, we should win.”
It took “a couple of hours” following Monday’s announcement for Boise State’s coach and Shields' older brother, Luke Shields, to respond to his calls and messages, but he eventually responded as they’ll be bringing the whole family to Tucson this weekend to watch the match.
“We got on the group family message and my whole family is coming in,” Shields said. “My parents are driving 16 hours (from Boise) here. It became this family affair. You always look for opportunities to get the family together and it’s really sweet to have my family come in and be able to watch this match.”
Two Cats qualify for NCAA Singles Tournament
It was announced Tuesday that UA senior captain Jonas Ziverts qualified for the NCAA Singles Tournament for the third time in his career, while sophomore Colton Smith will make his debut at the tournament later this month in Orlando.
Ziverts posted an overall singles record of 20-8 and an ITA singles ranking of No. 40, while Smith recorded a singles record of 23-11 and is No. 55 in the latest ITA singles rankings.
“It means a lot that all the hard work that I put in has shown some results,” Ziverts said.
It is the second straight year two UA players qualified, as Ziverts and Gustaf Strom qualified last year.
“It is really awesome to do that,” Shields said. “There are only 64 players that get in and with the automatic qualifiers, you’ve got to be like top 45 or 50 to make it. The fact that we’ve been able to bring multiple players two years in a row is so much fun and it’s a culmination of all the hard work over the course of the year.”
The Arizona men's tennis team celebrates upon learning that the Wildcats are hosting an NCAA regional for the first time in program history (video by Ari Koslow / Special to the Arizona Daily Star)
It will be the final time Ziverts will be playing for Shields and representing Arizona.
“It’s an opportunity to train a couple of extra weeks, to spend some quality time with them and for me to say goodbye to Ziv … I’m looking forward to it. His last time wearing the red and blue, playing for the team and to be there with him. I hope it’s in the finals of the NCAA Tournament.”
Drop shots
- Four UA players earned all-conference awards. Ziverts, Smith and Strom all made the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team. Herman Hoeyeraal made the Pac-12 All-Conference Second Team.
- Florida and Oklahoma State will take the courts first on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by Arizona and Boise State at 1 pm. The winners of each match will face each other Saturday at 1 p.m. with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
