BERKELEY – The 51st-ranked California men's tennis visits Los Angeles on its last road trip of the regular season to face No. 54 USC and No. 28 UCLA. Note: Due to rain on Sunday in Los Angeles, the Cal match at UCLA originally scheduled to start at noon PT has been delayed and will start no sooner than 3 p.m.
 
With about two weeks left in the Pac-12 Conference regular season, the Golden Bears sit third in the standings with a 3-1 record (10-7 overall). The Bruins are right behind Cal at 2-2, while USC is in eighth place in the nine-team conference with a 0-3 record. Nineteenth-ranked Stanford (5-0) is in first place and No. 8 Arizona (4-1) is second. After playing UCLA, Cal ends the regular season against the Cardinal on April 20 in Berkeley.
 
Final regular-season standings determine the seeding for the Pac-12 Championship, which is scheduled for April 24-27 in Ojai. The winner of the conference tournament earns the Pac-12's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
 
Match Details
 
No. 51 Cal (10-7, 3-1 Pac-12) at No. 54 USC (5-13, 0-3)
When: Friday, April 12, 3 p.m. PT
Where: Marks Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif.
Follow: Livestream/Live Scores
 
No. 51 Cal (10-7, 3-1 Pac-12) at No. 28 UCLA (10-6, 2-2)
When: Sunday, April 14, 3 p.m. PT
Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Follow: Livestream/Live Scores
 
Chang Earns Second Pac-12 Player of the Week Award
For the second time in less than a month, Cal junior Alex Chang was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday. The award is the second career honor for Chang, who also claimed the accolade on March 19, and is the second for Cal this season.
 
The Berkeley native was lauded for his play in the then-65th-ranked Golden Bears' victories over Utah, No. 47 UC Santa Barbara and Saint Mary's over the weekend, when he won three times in singles and, with Mikey Wright, won twice in doubles. After its three wins, Cal improved to No. 51 in Tuesday's ITA team rankings.
 
In the win over the Utes on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex, the 45th-ranked pair of Chang and Wright defeated Geronimo Espin Busleiman and Bruno Krenn, 6-2, on court one as the Bears went on to claim the doubles point. Ranked 104th in singles, Chang bested Jayson Blando 6-1, 6-4, on court three. Beating Utah improved Cal's Pac-12 Conference record to 3-1.
 
Against the Gauchos on Sunday, Chang beat Lucca Liu, 6-4, 6-4, en route to Cal's 4-3 triumph. Chang and Wright's doubles match was abandoned after their teammates secured the doubles point.
 
Sunday featured a doubleheader at Hellman, with Cal dominating Saint Mary's, 7-0, in the night cap. Chang and Wright topped Diego Jarry and Paulo Hugo Etchecoin, 6-2, to clinch the doubles point and give the Bears a 1-0 lead. Later Chang beat Jarry at court-two singles, prevailing 6-3, 6-1, as the Bears rolled to victory.
 
Last Time Out: Cal Sweeps Trio At Home
Cal went 3-0 last weekend at the Hellman Tennis Complex, defeating Utah on Saturday and beating No. 47 UC Santa Barbara and Saint Mary's on Sunday.
 
Against the Utes, Cal took a 1-0 lead when Lucas Magnaudet and Timofey Stepanov beat Jayson Blando and Michael Blando, 6-1, at court-two doubles to clinch the point. Alex Chang ended the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Jayson Blando at court-three singles to complete a 4-0 victory.
 
Less than 24 hours from the end of its match against Utah, Cal returned to Hellman to defeat UCSB, 4-3, on Sunday. Freshman Timofey Stepanov won in straight sets to clinch the Bears' victory in their first match of the day, beating Kai Brady 7-5, 6-3, at court-four singles. In the late afternoon, senior Lucas Magnaudet bested Paulo Hugo Etchecoin at court-four singles, 6-3, 6-0, to clinch a 7-0 rout of Saint Mary's.
 
Last Time Vs. USC, UCLA
Cal beat both L.A. teams last year in Berkeley.
 
Against No. 28 UCLA on April 7, former Bear Yuta Kikuchi – in his penultimate home match – beat Patrick Zahraj, 6-4, 6-2, to clinch Cal's 4-0 win. Kikuchi also partnered with Philip Hjorth to best Jeffrey Fradkin and Aadarsh Tripathi, 7-5, and clinch the doubles point.
 
On April 8, Carl Emil Overbeck clinched a 4-3 win over 10th-ranked USC – the eventual Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champion – with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 result over Lodewijk Westrate.
 
Poll Position
Cal moved up 14 spots to No. 65 in the ITA team rankings after beating the Utes, Gauchos and Gaels. The doubles pair of Mikey Wright and Alex Chang (6-1) is ranked 41st, while in singles Ryder Jackson (6-4) is ranked 81st, Carl Emil Overbeck (16-12) is ranked 119th and Chang (20-8) is ranked 123rd.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Including the clincher against Saint Mary's, Lucas Magnaudet leads the team with four clinching victories
• Alex Chang (vs. Pepperdine and Utah), Timofey Stepanov (vs. UC Davis and UCSB), Carl Emil Overbeck (vs. UCSD) and John Kim (vs. UC Davis) have also clinched Cal wins this season
• Alex Chang (19-8) and Mikey Wright (18-10) rank 1-2 in Cal doubles wins
• Chang and Timofey Stepanov are tied for the team lead in singles wins with 20 apiece
• Sophomore Jonathan Irwanto (17-13) is third in singles wins
• Overbeck has records of 16-12 in singles and 15-8 in doubles
• A native of Denmark, Overbeck won the singles title at the Jack Kramer Invitational in the fall
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA '08) is in his third season as the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis
• Kwinta has ties to both of Cal's next two opponents – the Bruin alumnus and former UCLA assistant coach was USC's associate head coach prior to taking the head coaching job at Cal
• As a UCLA player, Kwinta clinched the Bruins' 4-3, NCAA championship win over Baylor in 2005
• Francis Sargeant (BYU '15) is in his third season as a Cal assistant coach
• Former Santa Clara star Vasileios Iliopoulos is in his first season as a Cal assistant coach

Scouting the Trojans

• USC is on an eight-match losing streak, including a 4-2 loss at Washington on Friday and a 4-3 loss at Oregon on Sunday in its last two contests
• The streak does not include a March 20 match at Arizona State that was suspended due to inclement weather, with the Trojans leading 2-1
• USC's last win this season was a 4-0 shutout of then-No. 36 Michigan on Feb. 27
• In singles, Peter Makk is ranked 82nd and Wojtek Marek is ranked 113th
• The pair of Makk and Lodewijk Westrate is ranked 55th in doubles
• Brett Masi is in his fifth year as USC's head coach

Scouting the Bruins

• UCLA hosts Stanford on Friday
• The Bruins have won three straight, starting with a 4-1 win over USC on March 29 and continuing with a 4-3 win at Oregon on Friday and a 4-0 shutout at Washington on Sunday
• Govind Nanda is ranked 26th in singles
• Billy Martin is in his 31st season as head coach of UCLA

Next Time
Cal hosts Stanford in the regular-season finale and the Big Slam on April 20 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
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