BERKELEY – Coming off a strong performance against a pair of nationally ranked opponents, the California men's tennis team faces another talented foe in 12th-ranked Stanford on Saturday on the Farm.
 
The Golden Bears split its last two matches, beating No. 23 UCLA and falling to No. 8 USC (see below), and bring a 3-2 record into the Big Slam. The Cardinal has a 5-0 record ahead of a Wednesday match vs. UC Davis at Stanford.
 
Fans can follow Saturday's action via the Stanford live stream here and live scores by clicking here and can follow match updates on Twitter at @CalMensTennis.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Yuta Kikuchi clinched Cal's win over UCLA and has a singles record of 12-8
• The 15th-ranked pair of Kikuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck improved their team-best doubles record to 11-3 after beating USC's 10th-ranked Bradley Frye and Stefan Dostanic
• Philip Hjorth leads the way in singles with a 16-7 record
• The Cal pair of Kikuchi and Philip Hjorth (1-1) is also ranked at No. 58
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA '08) is in his first season as the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis
• Kwinta's staff includes assistant coach and former BYU player Francis Sargeant along with volunteer assistant coach and former professional player Jared Donaldson

Scouting the Cardinal

• Stanford handed No. 8 USC its first loss – 4-1 – on Friday and beat No. 23 UCLA, 6-1, on Saturday on the Farm
• In the ITA Kickoff Weekend in January, the Cardinal beat Tulane, 4-0, and No. 20 Central Florida, 4-0, to qualify for the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship
• Arthur Fery is ranked seventh in singles
• Two Cardinal duos are ranked in doubles in No. 8 Fery and Alexandre Rotsaert and No. 31. Max Basing and Timothy Sah
• Paul Goldstein is in his eighth year as head coach at Stanford

Last Time: Bears Beat Bruins, Fall To Trojans
Cal had an impressive weekend at the Hellman Tennis Complex, as the Bears beat No. 23 UCLA, 4-0, on Saturday and then battled No. 8 USC before falling, 4-2.
 
Yuta Kikuchi completed an impressive victory against the Bruins, as the senior defeated Drew Baird, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, at court-one singles in the Bears' shutout win. Freshman Carl Emil Overbeck had a quality win in beating the Bruins' 96th-ranked Stefan Leustian, 6-1, 6-4, on court four. In doubles, Sean Hill and Lucas Magnaudet knocked off Baird and Max Wild, 6-3, to clinch the point.
 
Cal also won the doubles point against the Trojans, with the 15th-ranked duo of Kikuchi and Overbeck clinching the point with a 6-2 win over the 10th-ranked Dostanic and Bradley Frye on court one. At court-three singles, Hill edged USC's 70th-ranked Frye, 7-6(4), 7-5, to pull Cal to within one of USC at 3-2. Kikuchi was close to completing his match on court one – on which he led the sixth-ranked Dostanic, 6-0, 4-6, 5-4 – when the Trojans won on court five to end the match.
 
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Twitter (@CalMensTennis), Instagram (@CalMensTennis) and Facebook (@CalMensTennis).
 
Next Time
Cal hosts a pair of nonconference matches when Army visits Berkeley on Feb. 26 and UNLV heads to the Hellman Tennis Complex on Feb. 28.