BERKELEY – Riding a five-match winning streak, the No. 27 California men's tennis team starts a busy week of four matches in seven days when the Golden Bears (7-2) host No. 11 Columbia (7-1) on Monday at a new start time of noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Cal then hosts SMU (9-7) on Wednesday at 1 p.m., opens Pac-12 Conference play against No. 31 Arizona State (10-3) on Friday at 3 p.m. and ends the homestand vs. No. 17 Arizona (12-3). Update: The Arizona match - originally scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. - has been rescheduled to Saturday at 4 p.m. due to expected rain on Sunday.
 
Rain is in the forecast for Berkeley on Monday, so please check CalBears.com and the team's Twitter @CalMensTennis for updates on the match vs. Columbia.
 
Admission is free for regular-season home tennis at Hellman. Fans can watch matches at Hellman through Cal's live stream by clicking here and can also keep track of the Bears on Twitter @CalMensTennis.
 
Bears Top USD, Send Duo To Doubles Round Of 16
Cal captured its fifth-consecutive victory when it won at San Diego, 5-2, on March 2. The Bears got singles wins from Yuta Kikuchi, Ryder Jackson, Siddhant Banthia, Derrick Chen and Lucas Magnaudet, who clinched the win with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 result over Neo Niedner.
 
The Bears also began play in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship in nearby La Jolla on March 2. Banthia and Carl Emil Overbeck advanced the furthest of any Bears in the annual open tournament, with the pair reaching the round of 16.
 
Poll Position
Cal is ranked 27th in this week's ITA Coaches Poll. In the ITA singles poll, Yuta Kikuchi (8-3) is ranked 30th and Ryder Jackson (16-7) is 94th. In doubles, Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet (7-1) are ranked 54th, and Kikuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck (4-0) are ranked 67th.
 
Scouting the Bears

• In the Bears' all-time series vs. the next four opponents, Cal is 0-2 vs. Columbia, 9-8 vs. SMU, 49-17 vs. Arizona State and 55-16 vs. Arizona
• Cal last played Columbia in 2015, falling 4-1, and last played SMU in 2010, winning 7-0
• The Bears lost at the Arizona teams last season, falling 4-2 to the Sun Devils and 4-1 to the Wildcats
• Ryder Jackson had an impressive fall, reaching the singles final of the ITA Northwest Super Regional Championships and competing in singles in the ITA National Fall Championships
• Yuta Kikuchi posted a big win In the Hawaii Invitational on Jan. 9, defeating Duke's fourth-ranked Garrett Johns, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(5)
• In the fall, Kikuchi won his first professional singles title when he took the crown at the Norman Open in Oklahoma; the Japan native also reached the singles final of the KPSF Open in San Francisco
• Sophomore Carl Emil Overbeck has shone in doubles and singles, joining Jackson in the singles semifinals of super regionals and teaming with Kikuchi to repeat as doubles champs in the Battle in the Bay Classic in September
• The duo of sophomore Mikey Wright and freshman John Kim won the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Berkeley in October
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA '08) is in his second season as the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis
• Former BYU player Francis Sargeant is in his second year as a Cal assistant coach

Scouting the Lions

• Columbia plays at Santa Clara on Saturday
• Prior to Saturday, the Lions had a seven-match winning streak
• In its last match before facing the Broncos, Columbia beat No. 12 Northwestern, 4-0, on March 3
• In singles, Michael Zheng is ranked 16th, Roko Horvat is ranked 59th and Max Westphal is ranked 75th
• The doubles duo of Westphal and Theo Winegar is ranked 25th
• Howard Endelman is in his fourth season as Columbia's head coach

Scouting the Mustangs

• SMU hosts No. 73 Central Florida on Sunday
• In its last two matches, SMU played twice on March 10, beating Southern Arkansas, 5-2, and No. 21 Cornell, 5-2
• The doubles pair of Adam Neff and Pranav Kumar reached the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships in October
• Grant Chen is in his fifth year as head coach of SMU

Scouting the Sun Devils

• ASU plays one more match before going to Berkeley, as the Sun Devils host Texas Tech on Saturday
• The Sun Devils defeated Liberty, 4-1, on Friday in Tempe, Arizona
• Murphy Cassone is ranked 57th in singles
• Matt Hill is in his seventh season as ASU's head coach

Scouting the Wildcats

• Arizona plays at No. 25 Stanford on Saturday
• The Wildcats won at No. 38 Oklahoma, 4-0, on March 6 and at No. 56 Tulsa, 6-1, on March 8 in their latest matches
• Four Wildcats are ranked in singles: No. 38 Jonas Ziverts, No. 78 Colton Smith, No. 97 Herman Hoeyeraal and No. 115 Nick Lagaev
• In doubles, Ziverts and Jay Friend are ranked 58th, and Ziverts and Hoeyeraal are tied for No. 59
• Clancy Shields is in his seventh year as Arizona's head coach 

Next Time
Cal plays at No. 38 Pepperdine on March 25 and at No. 33 UC Santa Barbara on March 26 in a pair of nonconference matches.
 
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