Cal Chases Pac-12 Lead In Northwest

Friday, April 14

Eugene, Ore.

3:00 PM

California

Oregon

J.T. Nishimura and the Bears hit the road for the first time in more than a month.

Photo by: cal.isiphotos.com

4/12/2017 11:41 AM | Men's Tennis

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By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – With the race for the Pac-12 regular-season title and conference tournament in full swing, California travels to Oregon and Washington in its last road trip of the regular season. The No. 12 Golden Bears (15-6, 2-1 Pac-12) face the No. 23 Ducks (16-4, 2-2 Pac-12) on Friday at 3 p.m. and then take on the No. 37 Huskies (12-7, 1-3 Pac-12) at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Cal is fourth in the Pac-12 with its 2-1 conference record. UCLA, whose match at Cal last Friday was rained out, is 3-0 in the conference, USC, which beat Cal 4-0 last Saturday in Berkeley, is 3-1, and Stanford is also 3-1. Last season, the Bruins won both the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles, with Cal finishing as the tournament runner-up.

The 2017 Pac-12 tournament runs April 26-29 in Ojai, California.

Poll Position
Cal is ranked 12th in the Oracle/ITA Rankings. In the singles rankings, senior Florian Lakat is No. 15, senior Andre Goransson is ranked 45th and junior Billy Griffith is 88th. In the doubles poll, Lakat and senior Filip Bergevi are ranked fourth, while Goransson and Griffith are ranked 58th.

Scouting the Bears

Florian Lakat, the Feb. 20 Pac-12 Player of the Week, has a 16-10 singles record and is 9-7 at court-one singles
Andre Goransson – who has an 21-10 singles record and a 7-6 court-two singles record – was named the March 27 Pac-12 Player of the Week for his play in Cal's wins over Yale and Illinois
Goransson beat Filip Bergevi for the singles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships last fall in Berkeley
In singles, Billy Griffith has a 23-6 record, including a 13-4 dual-match record; that includes records of 6-3 on court three and 5-1 on court four
Bergevi is 16-9 in singles; he's also 2-1 on court four, on which the senior clinched the win over Illinois with a 7-5, 7-6(6) win over Julian Childers
Freshman Bjorn Hoffmann (20-12 in singles) and is 3-3 on court four
On court five, J.T. Nishimura (10-4 overall) is 5-3; the junior is also 3-1 on court six
Doubles All-Americans last season, Lakat and Bergevi have posted an 18-5 doubles record, including a 10-3 record on court one, this season
Goransson and Griffith have an 18-5 doubles record, including an 9-1 court-two record
Hoffmann and Nishimura have a 10-8 doubles record, including 7-7 on court three
Two proud Cal alumni lead the Golden Bears: 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Peter Wright (class of '91) is in his 24th year as head coach, while associate head coach Tyler Browne (class of 2008) is in his ninth year on the staff

Scouting Oregon

Thomas Laurent is ranked 26th in singles
Nils Schyllander is in his 11th year as Oregon's head coach

Scouting UW

The Huskies host Stanford on Friday
Mitch Stewart is ranked 90th in singles
Matt Anger is in his 23rd year as head coach at UW

TennisRecruiting.Net Tabs Cal's Class No. 1
TennisRecruiting.net named Cal's recruiting class No. 1 in its winter rankings. The five-man class of Jacob Brumm, Paul Barretto, Jackson Suh, Ben Draper and Jack Molloy – which arrives in Berkeley next fall – gave Cal (with 461 points and 8 first-place votes) the edge over Florida (460 point, 8 first-place votes) and UCLA (433 points, 3 first-place votes) in the top 25 poll.

Bears Celebrate 125 Years of Cal Tennis
Cal men's tennis is celebrating the 125th year of the program, which has produced multiple national champions and All-Americans in its storied history. The perennial powerhouse, which was founded in 1892, has won three national team titles, four national singles titles and 14 national doubles championships from NCAA, USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships and ITA All-American Championships. The Golden Bears have also captured several conference singles and doubles titles as well.

Now in his 24th year as head coach at his alma mater, Peter Wright has coached 17 players who combined to earn 18 All-America honors and led the 2015-16 squad to the NCAA team semifinals. Wright has earned his share of accolades along the way, including his third Pac-12 Coach of the Year award last season and selection into the USTA NorCal Hall of Fame in the summer of 2015.

Next Time
Cal hosts Stanford in the Big Slam and last dual match of the regular season on April 22, which also features Senior Day, McManus Legends Day and Cal Day. Fuddruckers will also provide free hamburgers at Hellman. The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the 3:30 p.m. clash of rivals along with the first contest of the day's doubleheader, the noon Big Slam between the Cal and Stanford women.