Broncos Open NCAA Tournament at No. 11 Arizona

Friday, May 3

Tucson, Ariz.

2 p.m. MT

Boise State

Arizona

NCAA Championship graphic featuring the team in a pre-match huddle.

5/1/2024 11:16:00 AM | Men's Tennis

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho — The 57th-ranked Broncos travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the opening round of the NCAA Championship. They will face No. 11 Arizona at 2 p.m. MT on Friday. The winner will take on the winner of the No. 24 Auburn versus No. 39 Pepperdine contest on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.

Boise State enters its 20th NCAA Championship as the Mountain West regular season co-champions and MW tournament champions with a record of 20-10.

This is the second-consecutive year that the Broncos have advanced to the NCAA Championship only to face Arizona in the first round. Last year, Boise State fell 4-0 to the Wildcats in Tucson. Boise State is 7-3 all-time versus Arizona.

The Broncos are looking for their first NCAA Championship win since advancing to the round of 16 in 2009. Boise State is 7-19 all-time in this competition.

This will also mark the second-straight year that brothers and Boise State alumni Luke and Clancy – Arizona's head coach – Shields face each other in the NCAA tournament.

NEED TO KNOW

NCAA Championship, First and Second Rounds
At Tucson, Ariz. (LaNelle Robson Tennis Center), May 3-4

First Round: No. 57 Boise State (20-10) at No. 11 Arizona (24-3)

Date and Time: May 3 at 2 p.m. MT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Stream: Arizona Live Stream

Potential Second Round: No. 39 Pepperdine (14-11) or No. 24 Auburn (17-10)

Date and Time: May 4 at 2 p.m. MT
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Live Stream: Arizona Live Stream

OPPONENT NOTES

Arizona: The Wildcats are the three-time defending Pac-12 regular season and 2024 Pac-12 Tournament champions. They are coming off their first-ever conference tournament title in the Pac-12 with a 4-0 win over 20th-ranked Stanford.
Auburn: The Tigers enter the weekend ranked 24th overall with a 17-10 record. They tied for fourth in the SEC regular season standings and are coming off a 4-3 SEC Tournament quarterfinal loss to LSU. Boise State is 1-6 all-time versus Auburn.
Pepperdine: The 39th-ranked Waves tied for the West Coast Conference's regular season title and lost 4-1 to San Diego in the WCC Championship match. They are 14-11 overall and received an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship. The Broncos trail the Waves 7-4 in the all-time series.

TEAM NOTES

RECORD: The Broncos are 20-10 overall, 5-1 in conference, 12-0 at home, 6-4 in neutral contests, and 2-6 in true road matches.
REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS: Boise State has won four regular season conference titles all-time. The Broncos' first year as a member of a conference that played a regular season round robin was 2009, when they were members of the Western Athletic Conference. They went on to win that first WAC title and have since followed with three in the Mountain West (2012, 2014, and 2024).
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Broncos have won six MW tournament championships (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023, 2024) since joining the conference for the 2012 campaign. Boise State has won 18 conference tournament titles overall in the program's history spanning four conferences: Big Sky (1974, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996), Big West (1997, 1999, 2000), Western Athletic (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) and the six in the MW.
WINNING SEASON: The Broncos are guaranteed a winning season, the program's 32nd since 1982 and third straight.
20-PLUS-WINS: Boise State claimed its 20th win of the season in the MW Championship match against San Diego State, marking the 19th time since 1982 that the Broncos hit the 20-plus wins milestone.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Boise State finished the season undefeated at home, going 12-0 and 23-2 under head coach Luke Shields. 2024 is the program's sixth undefeated home campaign since 1996 and the first since the 2012 team went 19-0.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: The Broncos challenged themselves this year. They played 13 matches against competition nationally ranked in the top 75, going 5-8 in those contests.
NATIONALLY RANKED BRONCOS: Boise State currently has one nationally ranked doubles team. The tandem of Sam Sippel and Jip van Assendelft is currently ranked No. 47.
BRONCOS IN SINGLES: The 2024 spring roster consists of 11 student-athletes; two have recorded 20 singles victories, five others have 15 or more, and three have 10-plus. The team's win percentage in singles is .594 percent on the year, .700 in conference, and .649 in spring team duals.

BRONCO NOTES

Sam Sippel enters the week with an 18-16 overall mark and an 11-10 record at the No. 1 position this spring. He has faced 12 nationally ranked opponents and has gone 3-9 in those contests. On April 26, he was voted the 2024 MW Championship MVP. The fifth-year is a 2024 All-MW in singles and doubles and MW All-Tournament Honoree. In addition, Sippel has been invited to the NCAA National Singles and Doubles Championships May 20-25 in Stillwater, Okla.
Jip van Assendelft typically plays at No. 2 singles, where he is 8-13 with a 16-15 overall record. His top win was on Feb. 23 over then-4th-ranked Ozan Baris of Michigan State, 6-4, 6-4. The sophomore is a 2024 All-MW honoree in singles and has been invited to the NCAA National Doubles Championship with Sippel.
James Van Herzeele, who plays primarily at the No. 3 and 4 positions, has a 22-10 record overall in singles and a 16-5 record in team duals.
Jan Lucca Marquardt is 17-13 overall in singles and 10-6 in team duals, playing primarily at the three and four positions. He leads the team in doubles victories with 24; he currently plays No. 1 doubles with Sippel, who are 8-2 as a team.
Jett Middleton is 18-12 overall in singles and 10-7 in team duals, playing primarily at the four and five positions. Last fall, he won the ITA Mountain Region consolation singles final against teammate Caden Moortgat.
Idriss Haddouch saw a 19-match win streak snapped during the MW Championship match on April 26. He plays primarily at the fifth and sixth singles positions, where he is 20-2 in duals and 24-11 overall in singles.
John Chin is 18-11 in singles on the year and 14-6 in team dual competitions, playing primarily at the five and six positions.
Caden Moortgat (10), Liam Toroman (11), and Kyvan Rietkerk (10) have reached the 10-plus wins mark this season.

COACHING NOTES

Luke Shields is in his second season as the head coach at Boise State, his alma mater. He was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2023 — the third of his career and the first with the Broncos — after leading the team to a 21-8 overall record, the MW tournament championship, and the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Record: Shields is currently 41-18 at Boise State and 134-81 in his career as a collegiate head coach.
Accomplishments: In his two years at the helm of the Broncos, Shields has recorded back-to-back 20-plus win seasons, one MW Regular-Season Championship, two MW Tournament championships, and two NCAA Tournament appearances.