AUSTIN, Texas – Cal's deep run into the postseason ended with a 4-0 loss at second-seeded Texas on Saturday in the NCAA super regional at the Texas Tennis Center. The second-ranked Longhorns clinched the victory over the 24th-ranked Golden Bears when the 12th-ranked Yuya Ito beat Cal sophomore Jack Molloy, 6-3, 6-3.
 
Cal winds up with a 16-13 overall record. Texas, meanwhile, improves to 26-3 and advances to the NCAA quarterfinals in Orlando, Florida.
 
The Bears were hoping to make their own trip to Florida after posting impressive 4-1 wins over Drake in the round of 64 and over host and No. 15 Illinois in the round of 32 last week in Urbana. Cal had won five of six matches heading into Austin, with those wins including a big upset of UCLA, 4-1, in the Pac-12 Championship semifinals.
 
Rain and lightning in Austin delayed the match, which was slated for a 1 p.m. CT start but eventually began at 4 p.m. CT on the outdoor courts of the Texas Tennis Center.
 
Texas took a 1-0 lead over the Bears when the Longhorns' fifth-ranked Harrison Scott and Christian Sigsgaard topped Cal's 28th-ranked Jacob Brumm and Yuta Kikuchi, 6-3, on court one to secure the doubles point.
 
Cal trailed 2-0 when the Longhorns' 55th-ranked Scott beat sophomore Ben Draper, 6-3, 6-3 on court four, and then the seventh-ranked Sigsgaard defeated Kikuchi, 6-2, 6-4, on court one to put Texas up 3-0 lead.
 
The Bears lost five out of six first sets to Texas in singles. Cal sophomore Paul Barretto was leading in the first set on court two over the 80th-ranked Leonardo Telles, 6-6(5-4), when the super regional ended with the Longhorns' victory on court two.
 
The season has now ended for most of the Bears, though it could have ended a lot sooner. Cal had an 11-11 record after losing at Washington, 4-3, on April 19 in the penultimate match of the regular season. The Bears rebounded the next day with a 4-0 blanking of No. 45 Oregon to improve to 12-11. A run to the Pac-12 final followed, with the Bears going 2-1 (including a 4-1 quarterfinal win over Arizona State) in the conference tournament. A loss to ASU would have left Cal with a .500 record. But the Bears finished Pac-12s with a 14-12 record that eventually led to an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
 
"I'm so proud of our guys and what our team accomplished this season," said Peter Wright, Cal's Director of Men's Tennis. "We had challenges, and we faced them together. We made mistakes, but we didn't let them get us down. We were one loss from not qualifying for NCAAs, and here we are in the sweet 16. We did it together, and I'm looking forward to the future with these guys. As of today, we're no longer a young team. We've grown up a lot this year, and we're excited about what lies ahead. I can't say it enough – this is a special team, and I'm thrilled we have them back next year."
 
The future indeed looks bright for the Bears, a team with no seniors whose sophomore class composed the nation's top-ranked recruiting class two years ago and a team whose best player (Kikuchi) claimed the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year award.
 
The postseason will continue for Kikuchi and Brumm, a sophomore, when the duo competes in the NCAA Doubles Championship starting May 21 in Orlando.
 
NCAA Championship Round of 16
 
[2] No. 2 Texas (26-3) defeated No. 24 California (16-13), 4-0
May 11, 2019, in Austin, Texas
Texas Tennis Center
 
Doubles
1. No. 5 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (Texas) def. No. 28 Jacob Brumm/Yuta Kikuchi (Cal), 6-3*
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (Texas) vs. Paul Barretto/Can Kaya (Cal), 5-3 Did Not Finish
3. Chin Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (Texas) def. Ben Draper/Jack Molloy (Cal), 6-1
 
Texas won the doubles point
Order of Finish – 3, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 7 Christian Sigsgaard (Texas) def. Yuta Kikuchi (Cal), 6-2, 6-4
2. No. 12 Yuya Ito (Texas) def. Jack Molloy (Cal), 6-3, 6-3^
3. Paul Barretto (Cal) vs. No. 80 Leonardo Telles (Texas), 6-6 (5-4) DNF
4. No. 55 Harrison Scott (Texas) def. Ben Draper (Cal), 6-3, 6-3
5. Colin Markes (Texas) vs. Jacob Brumm (Cal), 6-3, 5-4 DNF
6. Rodrigo Banzer (Texas) vs. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal), 6-3, 1-6, DNF
 
Order of Finish – 4, 1, 2^
^Clinched the overall win