ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The 29th-ranked California men's tennis team's postseason campaign came to an end in the NCAA Championship on Sunday, when the Golden Bears fell to seventh-ranked and seventh-seeded Michigan, 4-0, in the second round outdoors at the Varsity Tennis Center.
 
Graduate student Yuta Kikuchi will represent the Bears in the NCAA Singles Championship from May 22-27 in Orlando, Florida. But the Cal team (13-11) ended its season on Sunday.
 
Michigan (26-4) advances to the NCAA Super Regional.
 
The Wolverines claimed the doubles point, with Patrick Maloney and Nino Ehrenschneider beating the Bears' Siddhant Banthia and Ryder Jackson, 6-4, to clinch on court two.
 
"It was a tough day at the office for us," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis. "The first few minutes in doubles we played well and had our chances. We broke at court three and had our chances at two and one. Against a team like that, you have to seize those opportunities early and put pressure on them. We didn't fully take advantage of those chances, and the doubles point ran away from us."
 
In singles, Cal trailed 3-0 after senior Philip Hjorth lost to Michigan's 63rd-ranked Gavin Young, 6-3, 6-2, on court five and Banthia fell to Jacob Bickersteth, 6-3, 6-2, on court six. The Wolverines completed their 4-0 victory when the eighth-ranked Ondrej Styler defeated the 27th-ranked Kikuchi, 6-2, 6-1, on court one.
 
"Once they won the doubles point, Michigan relaxed and went into the singles matches swinging away, and we very quickly fell behind in first sets," Kwinta said. "That's a really good Michigan team. We weren't able to stay with them in singles in the beginning. We made a little push in the second sets. Ryder won a first set and Carlo won his second set. But other than that, it was hard to find any momentum when you dig yourselves such a big hole. Michigan played well and with that big of a lead they were able to take their shots."
 
Kwinta says the team's losses this season will serve as motivation for the returning Bears to improve for next year.
 
"I'm proud of the team," he said. "I told the guys it would be great if you go without any losses and you win all your matches, and everything is all rainbows and unicorns. But that's not what sports are about. We had our share of struggles, injuries, battles, but you just hope to grow individually and as a unit. We accomplished that. We were tougher at the end of the season than at the beginning. We realized our potential and pushed some good teams to the wire. It's a valuable season for us. It's a winning season for us. We learned a lot. We gave ourselves a chance to go to NCAAs, beat a good LSU team, battle the best in the country and see what it takes to be at the level that Michigan is at.
 
"I definitely would love to have a few matches back. We had a stretch of some tough losses. But we learned a lot and needed that to grow as a team. You have to lose to learn how to win."
 
NCAA Championship – Second Round
May 7, 2023, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Varsity Tennis Center
 
Singles
No. 1 – No. 8 Ondrej Styler (U-M) def. No. 27 Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 – No. 44 Patrick Maloney (U-M) vs. Ryder Jackson (Cal) 3-6, 6-2, unfinished
No. 3 – No. 20 Andrew Fenty (U-M) vs. Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) 6-1, 2-6, unfinished
No. 4 – Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) vs. Derrick Chen (Cal) 6-2, 2-3 unfinished
No. 5 – No. 63 Gavin Young (U-M) def. Philip Hjorth (Cal) 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 – Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) def. Siddhant Banthia (Cal) 6-3, 6-2
 
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 7 Andrew Fenty/Gavin Young (U-M) vs. No. 81 Yuta Kikuchi/Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) 5-3 unfinished
No. 2 – Patrick Maloney/Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) def. Siddhant Banthia/Ryder Jackson (Cal) 6-4
No. 3 – Ondrej Styler/Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) def. Philip Hjorth/Derrick Chen (Cal) 6-3
 
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2; Singles 5-6-1