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Men's tennis bubble bursts

Even with a 4-4 record against ranked opponents and a seventh-place finish in the Pacific 10 Conference, the Arizona men's tennis team found itself on the outside looking in, as the team failed to receive an at large berth for the NCAA regional tournament.

Finishing the season on a disappointing note, the Wildcats were left searching for answers after being left out of the regional tournament.

"I'm bewildered, I'm trying to find out what happened," head coach Bill Wright said.

Having wins against ranked opponents - Rice, Texas Tech, Arizona State and California - displayed the strength and skill of the team, but it was not enough for the NCAA selection committee.

"There's nothing worse than that," senior Alex Brown said of not being selected.

The No. 55 UA rolled past No. 46 Rice 6-1 and pulled away with two 4-3 wins against then-No. 31 Texas Tech and No. 34 Arizona State in March to give the team a three-game win streak against ranked opponents.

The Wildcats (10-11 overall, 2-5 Pac-10) also defeated the No. 35 Golden Bears 5-2, for its fourth win against a ranked opponent later on in the season.

"At the time, these were top 40 wins," assistant coach Brad Helmig said.

At the end of the season though, these weren't gleaming wins, which proved costly to UA's tournament hopes. With Arizona State, Texas Tech and Rice not receiving invitations, the matches became even more prevalent.

Even with wins against ranked opponents, Arizona also had some crushing defeats that all but eliminated its tournament hopes. Major losses to ranked opponents San Diego, California, and ASU hurt the team's chances.

Most importantly, though was the fourth loss to No. 60 Oregon, 4-3, that sealed the Wildcats unwanted fate.

"It's really disappointing," senior Jean-Noel LaCoste said. "The loss versus Oregon was a key match."

Even with No. 60 Oregon five sports behind UA in the current national rankings, they still received a playoff berth.

"They (the committee) gave a great deal of weight to the loss to Oregon," Wright said.

Three teams that did get into the tournament ahead of Arizona - Pacific, Northwestern and Oregon - left UA frustrated and wanting answers.

Pacific had two impressive wins against No. 28 San Diego and No. 40 Louisville, but the fact they didn't play a tough schedule still leaves questions for their berth.

However, No. 60 Northwestern lost to San Diego and still got into the tournament, despite a weak schedule.

"I have no line of reasoning for that one," Wright said. "Everyone is pretty frustrated especially when Northwestern jumps over you for no reason."

The entire situation leaves the team hurt at the realization the season is over.

"Basically, we got screwed with regionals," Brown said.

However, the team refuses to allow the shock of being left out of regionals taint a success season.

Defeating in-state rival ASU was the biggest moment of the season. After LaCoste clinched the match for the Wildcats, the entire team rushed the court, congratulating each other. It capped off a come-from behind victory, including four out of six wins in the singles matches.

"This has been the best two years of my life," Brown said. "I couldn't be happy walking away, I'm very satisfied."

David Stevenson can be reached a sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.