OJAI, Calif. – After upsetting the tournament's top seed on Friday, fourth-seeded California was looking to stun another southern California team in Saturday's final at Libbey Park. But it wasn't to be, as second-seeded USC blanked the Golden Bears, 4-0, in the Pac-12 Championship final to capture the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
 
The No. 33 Bears were winning in third sets on two courts when sophomore Jacob Brumm – who clinched the 4-1 semifinal victory over top-seeded UCLA on Friday – fell to the Trojans' Jack Sands, 7-6(5), 6-1, at court-five singles to wrap up USC's win.
 
Cal, which went 2-1 in the Pac-12 Championship, including a 4-1 win over Arizona State in Thursday's quarterfinals, now has a 14-12 overall record. Eighth-ranked USC is 20-7.
 
The Trojans' victory meant that USC and UCLA are still the only two programs to win the Pac-12 final since the tournament's 2012 inception.
 
USC clinched the doubles point on Saturday when Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven defeated Cal sophomores Paul Barretto and Can Kaya, 6-4, on court two.
 
In singles, Cal freshman Yuta Kikuchi was leading USC's 10th-ranked Brandon Holt, 6-4, 2-6, 5-2, on court one and Cal sophomore Ben Draper was leading Riley Smith, 7-5, 3-6, 4-1, on court four when USC's Sands won on court five to end the match.
 
"I'm so proud of what this young team has accomplished so far this season," said Peter Wright, Cal's Director of Men's Tennis. "Reaching the final of the Pac-12 Championship was a good way for us to start the postseason. We played well, but USC was better on the day. We have so many positives that came out of our matches the last three days. Now it's on to the NCAAs, and I feel we've done the work to position ourselves to play well no matter where we play."
 
The NCAA announces the field for its team tournament on Monday.
 
Pac-12 Championship Final
 
[2] No. 8 USC (20-7) defeated [4] No. 33 California (14-12), 4-0
April 27 2019, in Ojai, Calif.
Libbey Park
 
Doubles
1. No. 11 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) vs. No. 31 Jacob Brumm/Yuta Kikuchi (Cal), 5-4 DNF
2. Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven (USC) def. Paul Barretto/Can Kaya (Cal), 6-4*
3. Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith (USC) def. Ben Draper/Jack Molloy (Cal), 6-1
 
USC won the doubles point
Order of Finish – 3, 2*
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) vs. No. 10 Brandon Holt (USC), 6-4, 2-6, 5-2 DNF
2. No. 20 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Jack Molloy (Cal), 6-0, 6-2
3. No. 27 Laurens Verboven (USC) def. Paul Barretto (Cal), 6-0, 6-3
4. Ben Draper (Cal) vs. Riley Smith (USC), 7-5, 3-6, 4-1 DNF
5. Jake Sands (USC) def. Jacob Brumm (Cal), 7-6(5), 6-1^
6. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) vs. Mor Bulis (USC), 6-3, 3-6, 2-5 DNF
 
Order of Finish – 2, 3, 5^
^Clinched the overall win