Just like last May, the Bears had just clinched their NCAA round-of-32 match to secure their position in the Sweet 16 rankings. The Cal squad topped both Florida State and Denver this past weekend in 4-1 wins to secure its Sweet 16 position for the third straight year.

And coincidentally, just like last May, the Bears will attempt to overcome No. 3 Virginia to extend their run at the NCAA team championships.

This Thursday at 10 a.m., Cal (16-9) will battle the second-seeded Cavaliers for the second consecutive year at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Urbana, Ill.

If last year was any indication of how the No. 18 Bears will do against the Cavaliers, this match may very well be the Bears’ last.

In 2012, the nationally elite Virginia team swiftly swept Cal in a 4-0 domination to advance to the semifinals of the NCAAs. The Cavaliers only allowed the Bears a one-set win in singles before they stifled the Cal team in the doubles round and across all six courts in singles.

If last year’s matchup isn’t enough of an indication, the Cavs are riding on a winning streak that hasn’t been broken since the start of their season. The Virginia team boasts an impressive

26-0 season record so far this year after recently dominating Minnesota and Farleigh Dickinson last weekend in rapid 4-0 sweeps.

Virginia’s pristine season record is reinforced by the depth of the Cavalier squad. Their doubles and singles lineup teem with ranked players up and down the courts, spearheaded by No. 3 Jarmere Jenkins and No. 2 Alex Domijan in singles. The team boasts four other nationally ranked singles players along with three ranked doubles pairs. The first and last time the Cavaliers dropped the doubles point was back in February, when Virginia still rallied to take home a 4-3 win against Ohio State.

Although the strength of the individual players on the Virginia squad has not changed, one major difference between this year and last year is Cal’s familiarity with the Cavalier team. In 2012, the Bears battled Virginia for the first time in program history.

This year, according to Cal coach Peter Wright, Cal will have a slight edge just by the fact that the Bears will not be blindsided by the Cavaliers’ strength on the court.

“We’ve played Virginia in the Sweet 16 last year, so we know what to expect,” Wright said. “They’re a strong team, but we’re a bunch of believers, and we start preparing tonight for how we’re going to play them.”

The Bears recognize that they will certainly be the underdog in their Sweet-16 matchup. But having won eight of their last nine matches, the Bears will strive to carry their momentum into one of their biggest matches of the year.

“I think they’re probably the best team in the country, being undefeated this whole season,” said senior co-captain Christoffer Konigsfeldt. “But I think we’re peaking more now than we have been the whole season, so hopefully, we can shake them.”

Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at jchua@dailycal.org.

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And they handled it well.

For the third year in a row, the Bears clinched their round-of-32 match to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16.

But for the first time in three years, the Cal squad was not anticipating its second-round matchup. No. 18 Cal had to pull its difficult 4-1 win over the lowest seed in its bracket — unranked Denver.

In the first round of the NCAA team championships on Friday, the Bears crushed Florida State, 4-1, to advance to the second round of the NCAAs in Gainesville, Fla.

After seizing the doubles point with wins on courts No. 2 and 3, Cal quickly took down three Seminoles to emerge as 4-1 victors. Although the Bears conquered Florida in two sets each in singles, the Seminoles did not fall without first displaying some resistance.

“Florida State kept fighting, and it was hot and humid,” said Cal coach Peter Wright. “Luckily, we were able to get to four in time, but it was a hard-fought match.”

After taking down Florida State, the Bears were wholly anticipating a rematch against No. 15 Florida, the top seed in the bracket, for the round-of-32s. They defeated the Gators earlier this season — on Feb. 16 — with a 4-1 win at the ITA National Indoor Championships held in Seattle.

But the unranked Denver team unexpectedly pulled a narrow 4-3 upset of the Gators and advanced to the second round with the Bears. After losing the doubles point and trailing 3-1 in singles, the Pioneers managed to stun Florida in the round-of-64.

Denver was the only team across the country to upset a ranked squad in the first round of the tournament.

“That was quite unexpected,” Wright said. “Denver played with a tremendous amount of heart and energy, and quite frankly, that heart and energy carried over into our match today.”

In doubles on Saturday, the Pioneers fiercely battled against the Bears, fighting back despite trailing on all three courts to start the doubles round. Denver eventually took the first-point advantage after the Pioneer pair of Enej Bonin and Jens Vorkefeld topped Cal’s Christoffer Konigsfeldt and Campbell Johnson on the top court, 8-6. According to Wright, the Bears failed to play aggressively at the net and ultimately handed the first point over to Denver.

“They outplayed us in the doubles point, and that was surprising to all of us because they lost the doubles point fairly easily to Florida the day before,” Wright said. “We were being a little tentative and passive.”

In singles, the Bears and Pioneers exchanged a few games before getting rained out and having to move to indoor courts. The rain delays, however, gave the Bears time to recuperate and shift the momentum in their favor.

Once Cal initiated play inside, the team found its rhythm and notched four straight points across courts two, three, four and five.

“We took advantage of that small amount of time and came out firing after that rain delay,” Wright said. “We were a different team from doubles, coming out and taking initiative — playing the Cal style of tennis.”

Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at jchua@dailycal.org.

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Out of all the first- and second-round brackets the Bears could have been placed in for the NCAA team championships, the Cal squad was selected to compete in a bracket where it had already defeated the top seed, No. 15 Florida, earlier this season.

On Feb. 16, the Bears battled then-No. 11 Florida at the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle. After notching the first point with a swift win in doubles, Cal dominated the upper half of the lineup to eventually clinch a 4-1 victory over the Gators.

This weekend, Florida will host Denver, Florida State and the No. 18 Bears (14-9) at the Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla.

In the first round of the tournament on Friday, the Bears will take on Florida State while the Gators battle unranked Denver at 10 a.m.

If Cal can surpass the first round, it will compete against the victor of the Florida-Denver matchup on Saturday. And with Denver boasting only one ranked singles player in senior Enej Bonin, the Bears will most likely take on the top-seeded Gators for the second time this year.

“I think we definitely have a good chance,” said senior co-captain Christoffer Konigsfeldt. “We beat (Florida) earlier this season, so we know that we can beat them now — I’m pretty happy with the draw.”

Cal cannot look forward to exploiting its bracket luck in a second meeting with Florida until the squad defeats an underrated Florida State team, however.

The Cal squad holds a significant by-the-numbers advantage over the Seminoles.

The Bears feature three ranked singles players, led by junior Ben McLachlan on the top court. The team also boasts three ranked doubles duos, spearheaded by the Cal pair of Konigsfeldt and junior Campbell Johnson on court No. 1.

But according to Cal coach Peter Wright, topping Florida State will not be an easy task for the Bears. Despite their dearth in ranked players, the Seminoles have claimed several come-from-behind victories this year, including two upsets over nationally ranked top-25 teams.

On March 1, the Seminoles conquered No. 21 Texas for the first time in their program’s history. Two weeks later, Florida State defeated No. 14 Oklahoma in a close 4-3 victory.

“Florida State is a very gritty team — their guys fight really hard and they’re tough,” Wright said. “We’ve seen them in action at some tournaments, and I think they might be a little underrated in terms of what their ranking is.”

If the Bears can make it past these first two rounds, they will progress to the NCAA round of 16 for the third year in a row. But advancing to the sweet 16 has never been a simple feat for the Bears.

Just take the past two years, when Cal pulled two 4-3 clutch victories to advance to the round of 16. Although the Bears got lucky in their bracket selection this postseason, breezing through the first and second rounds has never been an option for the Bears — and that won’t change this year.

“They’re going to be really tough matches for us for sure,” Konigsfeldt said. “But then again, it’s the NCAA tournament. Nothing is easy.”

Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at jchua@dailycal.org.

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The last time the Bears failed to earn the NCAA Championships home court advantage was in 2010, where Cal had to travel to Los Angeles in Southern California. Although the Bears easily swept UC Irvine in the first round, they were immediately knocked out of the NCAAs by UCLA in the second round.

This Tuesday afternoon, the NCAA selection show for Division I men’s tennis revealed that the Bears will leave home for the first time in three years. No. 15 Florida will host Denver, Florida State and No. 18 Cal for the first two rounds of the NCAA Team Championships.

In the first round, the Bears will take on Florida State first, while the Gators will match off against unranked Denver.

If Cal can make it past the first round, the team will most likely battle host Florida — who it will play for the second time this year. On Feb. 16, the Bears took on then No. 11 Florida at the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle, where Cal emerged as victors, 4-1.

According to Cal senior co-captain Christoffer Konigsfeldt, the Bears will have a good chance of making it past these first two rounds and advancing to the NCAA sweet 16.

“It was an interesting draw — we didn’t really know what to expect this year,” Konigsfeldt said. “But I think we definitely have a good chance. Florida is the top seed there, and we beat them earlier this season, so we know that we can beat them now.

“It’s a good draw for us.”

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The Bears had not lost a dual match in a month, and they entered the Pac-12 Championships riding a five-game win streak.

But Cal couldn’t hold on to its winning streak forever.

As expected, the third-seeded Bears kicked off their postseason this Thursday with a rapid sweep of No. 6 seed Utah, 5-0, in Ojai, Calif.

But second-seeded and No. 5 USC snapped the No. 18 Bears’ six-game win streak the next day with a 4-1 domination of Cal, ending the Bears’ run at the Pac-12 Tournament.

Although Cal’s NCAA seeding will not be finalized until Tuesday afternoon, Cal’s loss to USC (23-3) most likely eliminated any chances the Bears had of hosting the starting rounds of the NCAA Team Championships.

The Cal squad (14-9) already qualified for the NCAAs earlier this season after solidifying a winning percentage greater than .500. But only the top 16 squads in the nation will have a home court advantage for the first and second rounds of the NCAAs.

“It was a tough way to finish off the Pac-12 Championships,” said Cal coach Peter Wright.

After the Bears overtook the Utes (14-12) in doubles on Thursday, Utah fiercely battled back to start off the singles round, taking an early lead in the first set on the first four courts. However, Cal did not let up in singles play, eventually clinching the match with Chase Melton’s two-set win on court No. 6.

According to Wright, the Bears improved in doubles play from Thursday to Friday, playing more aggressively at the net and making better decisions in shot selection. On court No. 3 on Friday, Cal and USC exchanged broken serves back and forth until the Cal duo consisting of sophomores Gregory Bayane and Melton managed to clinch an 8-6 victory.

“We were able to hold serve when it mattered towards the end,” Melton said.

The Bears ultimately seized the doubles point when Cal pair Christoffer Konigsfeldt and Campbell Johnson clinched a tough tiebreaker against USC’s Ray Sarmiento and Yannick Hanfmann, 9-8(7), on the top court.

But the singles round was an entirely different ball game.

The Bears’ one-point lead was short-lived, as the Trojans quickly displayed their dominance by notching four of the first six sets.

Hanfmann rapidly took down Konigsfeldt with his two-set victory on court No. 2.

Over on court No. 4, Bayane struggled to hold serve during break points and missed opportunities to break Trojan Eric Johnson’s serve, eventually conceding USC’s second point, 6-4, 6-4.

“I missed a lot of break points, which made a huge difference,” Bayane said. “It was kind of a bummer; he didn’t really win (the points) — I just gave them to him.”

On court No. 3, Campbell Johnson fought a back-and-forth battle with USC’s Roberto Quiroz until Johnson suffered from a locked knee in the middle of his first set. Johnson later struggled to keep up with Quiroz, eventually yielding the match in two sets, 7-6(7), 6-2, to give the Trojans the 4-1 win.

“Overall, we worked in every match in singles, but we got outplayed in some key situations,” Wright said. “It was tough to end that way, but we’re in a good frame of mind right now, and we’re feeling pretty good about the direction the season’s headed.”

Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at jchua@dailycal.org.

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This week, from April 25 to 28, the No. 18 Bears will compete at the Pac-12 Tournament in Ojai, Calif. The conference tournament consists of a double-bye format, with the top two seeds receiving automatic bids to the semifinal rounds.

As the No. 3 seed, the Bears (13-8, 5-1 in the Pac-12) received a first-round bye to the quarterfinals and will kick off their weekend on Thursday at 2 p.m.

In the second round, the Cal squad will play the winners of the Wednesday matchup between Oregon and Utah — the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, respectively.

The Bears already crushed both the Ducks (16-7) and the Utes (12-11) earlier this season. After winning the doubles point against Oregon, Cal went on to notch three more points in singles with its domination of the top half of the lineup on April 5. The Bears had an even easier time defeating Utah on April 12, swiftly taking the first four points to clinch their 6-1 victory.

Even if the Bears can clinch their first match in the Pac-12 Tournament, they may be stopped in their tracks during the semifinals. There, the Bears will take on second-seeded USC — the four-time defending NCAA champion. It is the only team to have swept the Bears this season.

If Cal manages to make its way back into the top 16, it will have the opportunity to host three other squads for the first two rounds of the NCAA Team Championships.

Then, the Bears will be able to kick off the NCAAs with a definite home-court advantage — a luxury the team has held on to for the past two years.

“The Pac-12 Tournament has significant value for all the teams playing because the matches still count towards your ranking,” said Cal coach Peter Wright.

But interestingly for the Bears, winning the Pac-12 Championships is not as crucial as clinching their first two matches in the tournament.

In 2012, the Pac-12 conference changed the tournament format to make the competition team-based instead of having the singles and doubles players compete individually. The team that wins all four rounds of the championship tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships held in May.

But the Bears already clinched their berth to the NCAAs when they won their match against Utah on April 12. After crushing the Utes in a 6-1 victory, the Cal squad solidified a greater than .500 winning percentage, rendering it eligible for the NCAAs.

Because the Bears already have their bid, their main focus this week will be to clinch their first two matches at the tournament to solidify getting in the top 16.

And with the Bears currently riding a five-game win streak into the Pac-12 Championships, Wright is confident that the Bears’ momentum will help them reach their goal.

“I’m excited for our prospects,” Wright said. “We want to make it a nice long weekend.”

Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at jchua@dailycal.org.

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But pointwise, it’s still just one of seven. To win the match, the doubles victor still needs to win three singles points.

On Saturday afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif., the Cal men’s tennis team showed that losing that first point doesn’t matter as much when the team’s depth in singles can make up for the loss in doubles.

In their last dual match of the regular season, the No. 18 Bears (13-8, 5-1 in the Pac-12) dropped all three doubles matches to hand the first point over to the Cardinal (11-10, 3-4).

But Cal later made a quick turnaround in singles, clinching a 4-3 match with victories on the first four courts.

“We made some crucial mistakes early on in doubles, but luckily, that only cost us one point,” said Cal coach Peter Wright. “I was disappointed in how we lost that point, but I’m really proud of how strong we came out afterwards in singles.”

The Bears’ win over their Bay Area rivals this weekend marks the second time this year that the Bears beat Stanford. On Feb. 24, Cal similarly conquered the Cardinal in nonconference play — losing the doubles point but emerging as victors, 5-2.

The Cal squad completed its season sweep of Stanford for the first time in six years.

In doubles play on Saturday, the Bears ultimately struggled to finish with a win on all three courts. After Cal conceded the second court match, it dropped the matches on courts No. 1 and 3 within seconds of each other.

According to Wright, Cal lacked aggression at the net and continuously made errors in decision-making on the court.

“In part, it was Stanford’s good play in doubles, and in part, we let Stanford play that well,” Wright said.

However, the Bears bounced back in singles, taking control of the top half of the lineup.

On the top court, Ben McLachlan dominated John Morrissey, evening out the match score at 1-1 with his rapid two-set victory. McLachlan, who was having trouble last week taking advantage of his strong serves, showcased his dominant serving this week as Morrissey struggled to return them.

Over on court No. 6, Trey Strobel temporarily put Stanford back in the lead after he defeated freshman Wyatt Houghton in two sets.

However, the Bears swiftly took down the Cardinal on the second, third and fourth courts to claim a 4-3 road victory. On court No. 4, Gregory Bayane dropped his first set but rebounded with more consistent play in the second and third sets to clinch the fourth point.

After the match, the players attributed much of their success to members of the Cal track and field team, who competed at Stanford earlier in the day. They came out to the stands at the Taube Tennis Center to support the Bears.

“It was amazing — it was the most people we’ve ever had at a match there, and it made it seem like a home match for us,” McLachlan said. “They really made a difference for us.”

Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at jchua@dailycal.org.

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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 jchua@dailycal.org.

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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 jchua@dailycal.org.

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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 jchua@dailycal.org.

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