The first conference win finally came for the No. 23 Washington men’s tennis team against the University of Arizona Wildcats when the Huskies were on the road last weekend.

The Huskies battled tough under the Arizona sun as five of the six singles players dropped their first set, and all but one of the winners from Washington endured three-setters en route to a victory.

Only freshman Martin Kildahl, who played at the number six singles spot, had a solid straight-set win for Washington (6-1, 6-3) and earned his first Pac-10 singles win.

The Huskies also got off to a good start by winning the doubles point from the number two and three teams. Redshirt freshman Brad Bator, who paired with senior Andy Kuharszky as the number two team was the last off the courts, but won the clinching match for the Huskies to take a 1-0 lead.

“It was tough, but really fun,” Bator said. “There was a lot of intensity on the court, but it was fun to play it out and help UW get the victory.”

The number one team of junior Patrik Fischer and freshman Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, though, couldn’t post a win in doubles or singles.

From there, it was an uphill battle for Washington, with Kuharszky losing his match 7-5, 6-3 at the number three spot and junior David Chu unable to make it on the board in his first set, getting swept 6-0.

However, Chu fought his way back into the match and took the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 for the win.

With the score tied at 3-3, sophomore Derek Drabble battled from behind after dropping his first set 5-7, to win the next two 6-4, 6-3 to give Washington the victory.

On Sunday, against No. 22 Arizona State University, the doubles teams lost their momentum as they lost all three matches to give the Sun Devils an early lead.

The Huskies couldn’t find their rhythm in singles play, either, as the players who won on Friday in Tucson struggled throughout the afternoon in Tempe. Only Kuharszky and Fischer were able to take down their opponents and put up points on the scoreboard for Washington.

Although Fischer had an impressive win over yet another ranked opponent this season, it still wasn’t enough to get Washington the overall victory as they lost 5-2 to ASU.

[Reach reporter Sheena Nguyen at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.]