TUCSON — Arizona men's golf made program history Tuesday morning, defeating No. 3 seed Vanderbilt 3-2 in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals, the program's first-ever match play win and its deepest run in tournament history.
The Wildcats will face No. 7 seed UCLA in the semifinals Tuesday afternoon at 1:25 p.m. PT, with Golf Channel coverage beginning at 3 p.m. PT.
The win came down to a sudden-death playoff, with senior Zach Pollo delivering the clinching putt to send Arizona through. Taishi Moto secured the first point with a 4&3 win over Chase Nevins, and Tianyi Xiong won three consecutive holes down the stretch to claim the second point. The match was tied 2-2 before Pollo's playoff heroics on No. 15 decided it.
The men's golf run is one of several postseason highlights for Arizona spring sports this year.
Six programs qualified for NCAA postseason competition, spanning team tournament berths and individual national championship qualifiers.
Track and field is sending a record 19 athletes to Eugene for NCAA Championships next week after qualifying in 12 events at a historic West Regional in Arkansas.
Mason Lawyer lowered his own 100-meter school record twice in a single weekend. For the first time since a historic Arizona 1-2-3 finish in the women's high jump in 1985, three Wildcat female high jumpers are advancing to nationals at Oregon.
Softball is making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, heading to the Durham Regional after a strong conference season. The Wildcats now have 38 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances and 8 national championships, though none since 2007.
Men's tennis hosted NCAA matches at home in Tucson and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. Senior Jay Friend was the one to push them to the historic run and finished the year ranked No. 3 in the nation while earning Big 12 Co-Player of the Year honors.
Women's tennis also earned a spot in the national tournament, making it back-to-back appearances for the Wildcats.
Women's golf advanced to the NCAA Championships, finishing eighth at regionals. It marks the 39th consecutive season the program has qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
With men's golf still in contention Tuesday afternoon and track and field nationals still ahead next week, Arizona's spring sports are delivering a postseason to remember, with more history still possible before the season is done.
