BERKELEY – The 58th-ranked California men's tennis team and No. 23 Arizona State will finally meet this season, with the Golden Bears facing Sun Devils in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 Championship on Thursday at 9 a.m. PT in Ojai.
 
The fifth seed in the conference tournament, Cal finished the regular season with a 3-3 record in the Pac-12 to place right behind the 4-2 Sun Devils in the standings. ASU is the fourth seed.
 
During the regular season, the two teams were set to play March 31 at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Arizona, until inclement weather forced the cancelation of the match.
 
The conference tournament continues Friday with the semifinals and ends Saturday with the final. Live scores are available for all matches, with the final airing on the Pac-12 Network. The winner of the Pac-12 Championship claims the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
 
Match Details
 
[5] No. 58 Cal (10-9) vs. [4] No. 23 Arizona State (16-8)
When: Thursday, April 25, 9 a.m. PT
Where: Libbey Park, Ojai, Calif.
Follow: Live Scores
 
Poll Position
Cal improved one spot in this week's ITA rankings and is now 58th. In doubles, Mikey Wright and Alex Chang (7-1) are ranked 38th, and three Bears are ranked in singles – No. 96 Ryder Jackson (6-6), No. 118 Chang (20-9) and No. 120 Carl Emil Overbeck (17-13).
 
Last Time Out: Cal Ends Regular Season With Big Slam Loss
Then-No. 59 Cal put up a fight against No. 20 Stanford in Saturday's regular-season finale, but the Golden Bears wound up falling to the Cardinal, 4-1, in the Big Slam at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Prior to the match and in front of nearly 1,000 fans, Cal held its Senior Day ceremony to celebrate the careers of Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet and honored the life and career of late alumnus Jim McManus on McManus Legends Day.
 
The Bears trailed 1-0 after Stanford took the doubles point, with the Cardinal clinching when Aryan Chaudhary and Harsh Hemang Parikh beat Cal's Carl Emil Overbeck and Qian Sun, 6-4, on court three.
 
Cal and Overbeck bounced back in singles, with the junior topping the 57th-ranked Samir Banerjee, 6-4, 6-4, on court two to tie the overall match 1-1.
 
But the match was soon untied again when Jackson, ranked 88th, lost to the 19th-ranked Nishesh Basavareddy, 6-4, 6-4, on court one to give Stanford a 2-1 lead.
 
Three of the remaining four matches went to three sets apiece, which contributed to the match running over three hours. Court four finished in straight sets, though, with Cal sophomore Qian Sun dropping a close 7-5, 7-5 result to Kyle Kang. The Bears trailed 3-1.
 
Cal needed to win the last three matches to capture the Big Slam. Magnaudet led Stanford's 116th-ranked Neel Rajesh 4-3 in the third set, while Cal's 120th-ranked Alex Chang was tied 5-5 in his third set with Max Basing, when court five settled the match. Cal freshman Jonathan Irwanto fell to Nico Godsick, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, to wrap up the Cardinal's win.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Lucas Magnaudet leads the team with four clinching victories, including three straight vs. Oregon (4-1) on March 16, Washington (4-1) on March 17 and San Francisco (4-0) on March 20; he also clinched Cal's 7-0 win over Saint Mary's on April 7
• 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
• Chang (20-9) and Mikey Wright (19-10) rank 1-2 in Cal doubles wins
• Chang and Timofey Stepanov are tied for the team lead in singles wins with 20 apiece
• Overbeck (17-13) and Jonathan Irwanto (17-13) are tied for third in singles wins
• Overbeck is also 15-9 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
• 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 Sun Devils

• Arizona State has won three straight dual matches entering the Pac-12 Championship
• Last week, ASU won 4-1 at No. 57 Oregon and 4-2 at Washington
• Two Sun Devils are ranked in singles – No. 12 Murphy Cassone and No. 55 Bor Artnak
• In doubles, the duo of Artnak and Max McKennon is ranked 71st while the pair of Cassone and Jacob Bullard is ranked 79th
• Matt Hill is in his eighth year as the Sun Devils' head coach

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 April 9. The award was the second career honor for Chang, who also claimed the accolade on March 19, and was 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, with Chang winning three times in singles and, with Mikey Wright, twice in doubles.
 
In the win over the Utes on April 6 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.
 
Against the Gauchos on April 7, Chang beat Lucca Liu, 6-4, 6-4, en route to Cal's 4-3 triumph.
 
April 7 featured a doubleheader at Hellman, with Cal dominating Saint Mary's, 7-0, in the nightcap. 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 Vs. Arizona State
In 2023, the No. 33 Bears defeated No. 39 Arizona State, 4-2, in their Pac-12 opener in Berkeley. Carl Emil Overbeck clinched the victory, beating Constantinos Koshis at court-four singles.
 
Cal picked up the doubles point for the ninth time in 10 doubles outings. The Bears' veteran pair of Yuta Kikuchi and Philip Hjorth defeated Spencer Brachman and Max McKennon, 6-2, on court three before the 54th-ranked Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet beat Roi Ginat and Murphy Cassone, 6-4, to clinch on court two.
 
Wins from Philip Hjorth and Ryder Jackson increased Cal's lead to 3-1 before Overbeck beat Koshis, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-1, to end the match.
 
Last Time At Pac-12s
Cal fell to Stanford, 4-2, in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship quarterfinals.
 
The Bears took a 1-0 lead, with Philip Hjorth and Derrick Chen defeating Max Basing and Neel Rajesh, 6-3, and then the 63rd-ranked Yuta Kikuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck besting Samir Banerjee and Arthur Fery, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point.
 
Stanford won twice in singles to take a 2-1 advantage, before the Bears' Lucas Magnaudet beat the Filip Kolasinski, 6-1, 7-6(4), to tie the contest at 2-2.
 
The Cardinal won on court three to lead 3-2, and then Aryan Chaudhary beat Cal's Siddhant Banthia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, on court six to end the Bears' stay in Ojai.
 
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