A victory against Stanford this weekend will not guarantee the No. 18 Cal men’s tennis team a place in the top 16. Losing the match will most likely eliminate any chance of it.
So why is the top 16 so important?
At the beginning of the NCAA championships in May, the nation’s top-16 teams will have the luxury of hosting three other squads for the first two rounds of the tournament.
With one regular season dual match left in the season and the postseason looming ahead, the Bears are itching to jump back into the top 16.
Cal (12-8, 4-1 in the Pac-12) has a chance to inch its way back up the ranks Saturday at 1 p.m. when it plays its Bay Area rivals at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. The Bears will face the Cardinal (10-9, 3-3) for the second time this year in their last regular season match.
Cal has hosted the first rounds of the NCAA the last two years and is not looking to lose its home court advantage this season.
“I have a lot of confidence in our guys,” said Cal coach Peter Wright. “We’re gelling and competing well together as a unit — but this will be a really important match for us to win.”
In the Bears’ Feb. 24 matchup with Stanford, Cal crushed the Cardinal in a 5-2 decision for its first rivalry win in three years.
At the Hellman Tennis Complex, the Bears failed to get a strong start in doubles, yielding the first point of the day to Stanford.
However, Cal made a quick turnaround in singles, notching five of the six courts in singles play to emerge as victors.
Now the Bears are hoping to complete their first season sweep of the Cardinal since 2007 — a feat Stanford has relished for the past three years.
This time around, however, Cal has a significant by-the-numbers upper hand in both singles and doubles.
The Bears, who are currently riding a four-match win streak, boast a well-rounded doubles lineup, having clinched nine doubles points in the last 10 dual matches.
Cal is led by the duo of senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt and junior Campbell Johnson on the top court.
Stanford will most likely counter on the doubles top court with its pair of sophomore John Morrissey and senior Denis Lin. Morrissey and freshman Nolan Paige are the only two ranked players on the Cardinal.
As of now, the Bears have clinched the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament. If they can sweep their first and second matches in the tournament, the Bears will most likely reclaim their spot within the nation’s top 16.
But Cal will have to win its match this weekend first.
“They’re definitely playing stronger at the end of the year than at the start, and playing at Stanford will put the win in their favor,” Wright said. “We have a lot of confidence in how we’ve been playing, but both teams are trying to peak at the end of their season — it’ll be a tough match.”
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected].