Down Goes No.11 Illinois – University of Arizona Athletics – University of Arizona Athletics

URBANA, Ill.– Arizona celebrates a huge victory over No.11 Illinois at their home courts after having a stamina from their 7-0 win over Eastern Illinois. The Wildcats secured two ranked wins in singles to finish off their weekend.
 
The Cats began the match with Illinois securing the doubles point and leading 1-0. Arizona caught momentum after Herman Hoeyeraal put the Cats on the board, taking down No.55 Kenta Miyoshi in a straight-set 6-4, 6-4. Casper Christensen followed making the score 3-2 dominating his court 6-4, 6-3.
 
Captain and Senior Nick Lagaev now has 87 wins with his take down on court three tying the score and making him the second ranked player in program history for the most single wins. Philip Malbasic currently holds the record at 95 wins. Lagaev hopes to pass this as the PAC-12 conference play begins next weekend. He defeated William Mroz 7-6(5), 6-0.
 
To obtain the ranked win over Illinois, No.52 Jay Friend earned the third ranked win of the day against No.30 Karlis Ozolins 7-5, 6-7(11), 6-4. Friend was a part of the first round of PAC-12 Player of the Week to start of the 2024 season. He represents Arizona in the first and second spot for Arizona.
 
The Wildcats secured themselves the No.7 spot on the ITA Rankings for the first time in program history. Arizona taking down the No.11 ranked team on the board send them into the conference play with strong moment to look for a third PAC-12 Championship.
 
The Cats return to play away on Friday, March 22 at 4:00 PM MST against No.32 USC and Sunday, March 24 at 12:00 PM MST against No.31 UCLA.
 
Match Results
Doubles competition
1. #57 Lucas Horve/Oliver Okonkwo (ILL) def. #15 Jay Friend/Colton Smith (ARIZ) 7-5
2. #3 Hunter Heck/Karlis Ozolins (ILL) def. Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) 6-0
3. Kenta Miyoshi/Mathis Debru (ILL) vs. Sasha Rozin/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 5-5, unfinished

Singles competition
1. #39 Hunter Heck (ILL) def. #8 Colton Smith (ARIZ) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
2. #52 Jay Friend (ARIZ) def. #30 Karlis Ozolins (ILL) 7-5, 6-7 (11-13), 6-4
3. Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) def. #55 Kenta Miyoshi (ILL) 6-4, 6-4
4. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) def. William Mroz (ILL) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
5. Jeremy Zhang (ILL) def. Inaki Cabrera-Bello (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-1
6. Casper Christensen (ARIZ) def. Mathis Debru (ILL) 6-4, 6-3

Match Notes:
Arizona 14-2; National ranking #7
Illinois 7-4; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,3,1,6,4,2)