With the NCAA Championships on the horizon, the Cal men’s tennis team just needs one more dual match victory.
But so do the Utah and Arizona men’s tennis teams. As of now, all three squads are battling on the brink of the .500 line, and all three need to be over .500 to have a postseason chance.
As the teams approach the end of their season, the three teams will have to fight to maintain a .500 winning percentage to be eligible for an NCAA bid.
Despite the similarity in their records for the regular season, a major difference between the Bears (10-8, 2-1 in the Pac-12) and the Utes or Wildcats lies in the difficulty of each of their respective schedules.
While Utah (11-9, 1-3) and Arizona (10-10, 0-4) have been competing against unranked teams and teams on the cusp of being ranked, Cal’s schedule has primarily consisted of top-20 squads.
This weekend, the No. 16 Bears will face what seems to be their easiest set of dual matches all year. Cal will take on the Utes at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and the Wildcats at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Playing in familiar home territory after their pair of road matches last week will give the Bears more reason to anticipate clinching victories this weekend.
“I think we’re very capable of winning,” senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt said. “We’re a good team, and we’re pretty confident right now, so coming back home to play at Berkeley will be great — especially with our home crowd there.”
By the numbers, Cal boasts a significant advantage over Utah and Arizona.
Nationally ranked juniors Ben McLachlan and Campbell Johnson lead the Bears on the top two courts in singles, and Cal’s top tandem of Konigsfeldt and Johnson competes on the top court in doubles.
The Bears will start their weekend conference play against a Utah team that, on paper, is not particularly intimidating. The Utes boast only one ranked singles player in sophomore Slim Hamza, who was selected to the All-Pac-12 second team in 2012. Hamza will likely play Johnson on court No. 2 on Friday.
The Arizona squad presents even less of a challenge for the Bears, as none of the Wildcats are ranked in either singles or doubles.
Last year, Cal crushed the Utes, emerging as 6-1 victors after a sweep of doubles and wins on five of the six singles courts. After their domination in Salt Lake City, the Bears made a quick turnaround to Tucson, Ariz., and similarly conquered the Wildcats in a 5-2 decision.
Although this year’s Bears have the advantage of playing on their home courts, there will be added pressure for Cal to bring home two conference victories in order to establish a strong record before entering the Pac-12 postseason tournament.
According to Cal coach Peter Wright, the team will look to treat the last few dual matches as must-wins as they reach the final homestretch of the season.
“Utah and Arizona are both well-coached teams, and they’re very dangerous,” Wright said. “We’re going to approach these matches with the utmost preparation because despite any other factors, our No. 1 priority is to continue to put ourselves in a position where we’re successful.”
Before the match starts on Saturday, the Bears will honor senior players Konigsfeldt and Riki McLachlan as well as team manager Moustafa Ismail for their careers and contributions to the Cal men’s tennis program.
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected].