This weekend, Cal will play Pepperdine and Duke in a mini-tournament. And if last year was the standard, then only a sweep will satisfy the Bears.
The No. 8 Bears (7-5) travel to Durham, N.C., to play No. 15 Pepperdine (6-6) on Friday at 10 a.m. The team will have a quick turnaround to face No. 5 Duke (10-1) at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
The mini-tournament, which started last year, is part of a three-year deal. Last March, the three teams went to Malibu, Calif., where the Bears upset the Waves and Blue Devils. The next and final year of the contract has the teams meeting in Berkeley.
Cal hopes to notch another victory against Pepperdine. The two teams previously met in Charlottesville, Va. in the ITA National Men’s Indoor Championships, where the Bears pulled a 4-2 victory.
“They’re a tough team, strong on doubles and singles,” Wright said. “We play them every year and they’re consistently well-coached and challenging, so expect a hotly contested match.”
Like Cal, Pepperdine has decent momentum heading into the match. The latter won its last three tilts against No. 19 Tennessee, No. 22 Tulsa, and Oklahoma. The Bears have won their last two against Baylor and San Diego, who both fell considerably in the last few weeks.
Despite the Waves’s fall in the rankings, several of the players have dramatically improved. A few weeks ago, Pepperdine’s duo of Alex Llompart and Finn Tearney were ranked 53rd in the nation. Now, they impressively stand at No. 4, having defeated the No. 11 and No. 3 pairs in the country.
Cal’s No. 5 doubles team of senior Nick Andrews and junior Chris Konigsfeldt have yet to face a duo with such a high ranking. However, at the ITA Indoors, the Cal pair earned a decisive 8-3 triumph over Llompart and Tearney.
As far as Wright is concerned, rankings won’t influence the team, anyway.
“I don’t think the rankings add any pressure – our guys are smart enough to not to focus entirely on them. Like Duke and many of the other schools we’ve faced this year, they’re going to have some players with better and worse rankings. I know our guys are good enough to beat anyone.”
Looking past the rankings will be even more important in Cal’s matchup with the Dukes. The Blue Devils have the No. 2 singles player in Henrique Cunha and the No. 19 player in Chris Mengel. Cunha and Fred Saba form the No. 15 doubles pair and could seriously challenge Cal for the doubles point.
The Blue Devils have suffered only one loss this year to No. 1 USC at the National Team Indoors Championship.
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