With only five matches left in its season, the Cal men’s tennis team is heading into a must-win situation.
It is imperative that the Bears win their next two matches against Oregon and Washington to qualify for the NCAA tournament held in May.
If it doesn’t sweep the weekend, Cal (8-8, 0-1 in the Pac-12) will have to win the rest of its three remaining matches during the regular season in order to receive its postseason bid. If the No. 21 Bears miss the NCAAs this year, they will miss the NCAAs for the first time since 1998.
After losing three of its last four matches to top-16 teams, Cal will have a chance to redeem itself this weekend at the Pacific Northwest against the lesser-ranked Ducks (14-3, 1-1) on Friday afternoon and then the Huskies (15-6, 2-0) 24 hours later.
This weekend, Bears will face off against relatively easier competition than they have the past few weeks. However, there will be added pressure to win.
“I do think we’ve got a good shot of getting to the NCAAs this year,” Cal coach Peter Wright said. “But these two road matches will be really crucial to our success.”
By the numbers, Cal boasts a significant advantage over both the Oregon and Washington squads.
The Bears feature three ranked singles players and three ranked doubles duos. Junior Ben McLachlan and senior co-captain Christoffer Konigsfeldt lead the Bears in singles play on the top two courts respectively.
When McLachlan arrives at Quillian Tennis Stadium at Seattle, he will face senior Kyle McMorrow, the No. 21 singles player in the nation and Washington’s sole ranked singles player. Named to the 2012 All-Pac-12 First Team, McMorrow plays on the top court in singles and doubles, and he currently stands with a 16-3 singles record.
Spearheaded by McMorrow, the Huskies pose a tougher challenge than it seems on paper.
“You don’t see it in the rankings, but it’s going to be a challenge up and down the lineup,” Wright said. “Neither of the two teams have many weak spots.”
According to Wright, the Bears’ major focus going into this weekend’s conference matches is to improve in doubles play.
Last weekend, Cal appeared to be evenly matched with UCLA’s doubles duos at the start of doubles play. However, the Bears failed to capitalize on opportunities at the net and eventually lost in all three courts to yield the point to the Bruins.
The UCLA game was enough to alarm Wright about Cal’s doubles play.
“We had a few chances to make it interesting, but losing that doubles point set us back,” Wright said. “That’s not the kind of team that we need to be successful.”
Wright plans on tackling the issue this week during practice, when the Bears’ point of focus will be on improving their serve returns and playing more aggressively closer to the net.
By shifting their attention specifically to weaknesses in doubles, the Bears look to cushion their postseason hopes before the regular season comes to an end.
“There’s no doubt that both of these matches will be tough,” Wright said. “We’ve been preparing ourselves mentally and physically this week to take on that challenge.”
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected].