OJAI, Calif. – No. 9-seeded ARIZONA upsets No. 8 UTAH 4-2 in the opening match on Wednesday to advance to the second round of the 2018 Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Championship. Arizona will face No. 1 seed and league champion UCLA in the second round at 12 p.m. PT. on Thursday.

Arizona made a comeback victory with four singles victories after Utah secured the doubles point on the top two courts. The Ute’s duo of Russell Benkaim and Randy Cory won at No. 1 doubles against AIgor Karpovets and Aaro Pollanen (6-4) while Egbert Weverink and Joe Woolley captured the win on court No. 2 by a similar 6-4 score over Wildcats Jonas Maier and Alejandro Reguant.

Arizona knotted the match 2-2 as Pollanen bested Utah’s David Micevski, 6-2, 6-3 on the second court and then took the lead when Karpovets claimed the No. 1 Court over Dan Little, 6-4, 6-4, for a 3-2 team advantage. With all eyes on court 6, senior Trent Botha clinched the victory for the Wildcats in a dramatic three set victory over Utah’s, Slava Shainyan 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. The Wildcats not only advance in the Pac-12 Championship, but also collect the teams’ first dual-match win of the season.

Botha said, “It feels unbelievable being a senior and being able to do that for the guys. We have such a young group and such a close group, I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. I knew it could be my last match so I came out here and gave it my all, put my heart out on the court.”

2018 PAC-12 MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25:

No. 9 Arizona 4, No. 8 Utah 2

DOUBLES:
1. Russell Benkaim/ Randy Cory, UTAH def. Igor Karpovets/ Aaro Pollanen, ARIZ – 6-4
2. Egbert Weverink/ Joe Woolley, UTAH def. Jonas Maier/ Alejandro Reguant, ARIZ – 6-4
3. Dan Little/ Azat Hankuliyev, UTAH vs. Carlos Hassey/ Filip Malbasic, ARIZ – und.
Order of finish: 2, 1

SINGLES:
1. Igor Karpovets, ARIZ def. Dan Little, UTAH – 6-4, 6-4
2. Aaro Pollanen, ARIZ def. David Micevski, UTAH – 6-2, 6-3
3. Santiago Sierra, UTAH vs. Alejandro Reguant, ARIZ – 6-4, 4-6, 2-2, und.
4. Filip Malbasic, ARIZ def. Egbert Weverink, UTAH – 6-3, 6-2
5. Randy Cory, UTAH def. Jonas Maier, ARIZ – 6-1, 7-5
6. Trent Botha, ARIZ def. Slava Shainyan, UTAH – 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 5, 2, 1, 6