Last weekend, the Cal men’s tennis team was teetering on the edge of the top 25.
This week, the Bears are back into the No. 16 spot after defeating fourth-ranked powerhouse Duke. Only the top 16 teams in the country receive postseason bids into the NCAA team championships.
Cal pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Blue Devils after sophomore Gregory Bayane garnered a clutch three-set win on court four.
“There was a lot of positive energy that came out from our win over Duke,” Cal coach Peter Wright said. “Now we’re really looking forward to the challenge this week.”
The question now is whether or not the Bears’ victory over a top-five team is any indication of how well they will play against No. 12 Pepperdine this Saturday.
At 1 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex, No. 16 Cal (7-5) will face a Pepperdine team that is 10-4 in the season so far. The Waves suffered their only four losses to top-10 squads, including No. 2 USC and No. 9 Ohio State.
Because Cal’s series record with the Waves has been so irregular, it will be difficult to predict who will take home the dual-match win this Saturday.
Last year, the Bears clinched the victory over the Waves at the ITA National Men’s Indoor Championships when now-senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt defeated Pepperdine senior Alex Llompart in two sets.
However, just three weeks later, the No. 15 Waves swept the eighth-ranked Bears, 4-0. Pepperdine quickly notched points in singles, defeating Cal on each court in two sets each. Sebastian Fanselow eventually edged then-Cal senior Nick Andrews, 6-4, 6-3, to clinch the squad’s rapid victory.
“Pepperdine is a great team that is very well-coached,” Wright said. “We’ve always had good matches with them, so I’m sure this time will be no different.”
This year, the Bears have the leg up in doubles with three ranked doubles duos, led by Konigsfeldt and junior Campbell Johnson. The Waves squad boasts the doubles pair of junior Francis Alcantara and senior Finn Tearney, which will face Konigsfeldt and Johnson on the top court.
However, Pepperdine makes up for its lack of nationally ranked doubles pairs in its singles players. Four of the six courts in singles will consist of Pepperdine’s nationally ranked players, led by No. 11 Fanselow on the top court.
According to Wright, winning the doubles point this weekend will especially be important for the Bears’ confidence going into the singles round.
“Getting that doubles point will definitely be a big momentum boost for whoever wins,” Wright said. “If we win that doubles point, our guys won’t relax — it’ll actually inspire them to play better in singles.”
With the Bears having suffered from several injuries during the past month, clinching the win against Duke was just what the squad needed to put their weeks of injury behind them.
Now Cal will just have to preserve its momentum as it prepares to battle against Pepperdine this weekend.
“We look at each match as a must-win from here on out,” Wright said. “We’ve had to fight so hard to be physically and mentally strong over the past couple of weeks, but I think our lineup will be ready for Saturday.”
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected].