After a superb fall half of the 2024-25 season, the California men's tennis team starts the dual-match portion of the year with two matches against Saint Mary's on Saturday, as the East Bay teams play in Moraga at 11 a.m. PT and then clash in Berkeley at 5 p.m. PT.
 
At Saint Mary's (0-1)
When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 11 a.m. PT
Where: Korth Tennis Complex, Moraga, Calif.
 
Vs. Saint Mary's (0-1)
When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 5 p.m. PT
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Berkeley, Calif.
Watch: PlaySight
Admission: Free
 
Poll Position
Cal has five Bears ranked in the latest ITA singles poll and two pair ranked in ITA doubles. Carl Emil Overbeck, a senior who ended the first half of the year as the No. 4 seed at the NCAA Singles Championship, is ranked fourth in singles. Also in singles, graduate student Theo Dean – who played in NCAA singles and partnered with Overbeck in the NCAA Doubles championship last November – is ranked 32nd, senior Alex Chang (another NCAA singles and doubles competitor in November) is ranked 66th, senior Derrick Chen is ranked 102nd and sophomore Timofey Stepanov – who played at NCAA singles at Baylor – is ranked 110th. Both of Cal's doubles teams that competed at NCAAs in November are ranked – Dean and Overbeck are ranked 30th and the duo of Chang and senior Mikey Wright is ranked 84th.
 
Scouting the Gaels

• Saint Mary's started the dual-match season Tuesday on the Farm, losing 7-0 to No. 17 Stanford
• The Gaels were picked to finish fourth out of eight teams in the 2025 WCC Preseason Poll
• Carlos Ramos Membrives earned WCC All-Conference honorable mention in his junior season last year
• Saint Mary's finished 8-13 (3-5 WCC) last season
• Greg Kennett is in his 10th season as head coach of the Gaels

 
Scouting the Bears

• Senior Carl Emil Overbeck (17-3 singles record) had a stellar fall – in addition to competing at NCAAs, he captured the singles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, finished with Theo Dean as the doubles runners-up at regionals, and won the singles title and, with Dean, the doubles crown at the Battle in the Bay Classic
• In the Battle in the Bay singles quarterfinals, Overbeck upset top-ranked Ozan Baris of Michigan State 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
• Overbeck qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship by virtue of reaching the ITA Northwest Regional Championships singles final in October
• Overbeck and Theo Dean (11-4) qualified for NCAA doubles at the ITA West Sectional Championships in early November, when they beat Nevada's Lucas Hammond and Youssef Kadiri 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles semifinals
• Dean, a graduate transfer from Yale, has shone in his first few months as a Bear, pairing with Overbeck to reach the doubles final at ITA regionals and win the doubles title at the Battle in the Bay Classic as well as upsetting top-ranked Baris 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in the ITA All-American Championships singles round of 64 and reaching the singles semifinals at regionals
• Dean, who has a 13-7 record, claimed his second NCAA berth when he bested UCLA's 104th-ranked Aadarsh Tripathi 7-5, 6-1 in the singles quarterfinals at the ITA West Sectional Championships
• Senior Alex Chang (12-6) also qualified for NCAA singles when he won in the ITA West Sectional Championships quarterfinals, defeating UCLA's 96th-ranked Alexander Hoogmartens 6-4, 6-4
• His play at sectionals continued an impressive fall in singles for Chang, who reached the ITA regional semifinals but fell to Overbeck 6-3, 6-4
• Chang went on to defeat Dean, 6-3, 6-4 in the regional third-place match
• Chang and Mikey Wright (8-5) won the third-place match at ITA sectionals, defeating Nevada's Lucas Hammond and Youssef Kadiri 6-1, 6-1 to punch their ticket to NCAA doubles
• The two Bears – both Berkeley products – reached the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships and ITA Northwest Regional Championships this fall
• Timofey Stepanov, a sophomore (11-5), defeated UCLA's 104th-ranked Aadarsh Tripathi 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in an ITA West Sectionals playoff match to earn his first trip to the postseason
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA '08) is in his fourth 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
• Andrea Caligiana (Wichita State '20) is in his first season as a Cal assistant coach
• Former Santa Clara star Vasileios Iliopoulos is in his second season as a Cal assistant coach

 
NCAA Championship Review
The first half of the season ended in unprecedented success for the Golden Bears. Cal produced the most entrants in the nation – men's or women's – in the NCAA individual championships, with four Bears qualifying for NCAA singles and two Cal duos advancing to NCAA doubles in Waco, Texas. To conclude the fall, Cal tied for producing the most players – five – on the ITA singles poll and also had two pairs ranked in the ITA doubles poll.
 
Carl Emil Overbeck was the first Bear to qualify for the individual championships. The senior defeated teammate Alex Chang in the singles semifinals of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships on Oct. 21 to book his spot to the final – which he subsequently won – and advance to the NCAA Singles Championship. On Nov. 9 at the ITA West Sectional Championships, Overbeck and Theo Dean, a graduate student, reached the doubles final to book their spot in NCAA doubles. That same day at sectionals, Chang and Dean each advanced to the singles semifinals to qualify for NCAA singles. The senior duo of Chang and Mikey Wright won the doubles third-place match Nov. 10 at sectionals to earn their way to NCAA doubles, while sophomore Timofey Stepanov captured a singles playoff match at sectionals to claim Cal's sixth berth in Waco.
 
The first few months of the season compare favorably with the prior two and a half years under Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis, Kris Kwinta, when Cal sent one doubles team (Overbeck and former Cal star Yuta Kikuchi in 2022) and one singles player (Kikuchi in 2023) to compete in the NCAA individual championships.
 
The older half of the current team – Dean, a graduate transfer from Yale, as well as seniors Overbeck, Chang, Wright and Derrick Chen, who also came close to reaching Waco – stepped up in a big way this fall. Overbeck had been a talented player before this season – he finished last year ranked 114th in singles and was ranked 56th in the 2024-25 preseason poll. But he improved to the point of earning the No. 4 seed in NCAA singles and subsequently claiming his first top-five singles ranking, which is currently the highest singles ranking in the ACC.
 
Chang and Wright were ranked 13th in the preseason but hadn't competed in NCAA doubles until last month, while Dean likewise qualified for the NCAA individual tournaments for the first time after playing four seasons at Yale.
 
Along with focusing on qualifying for NCAAs, Cal continued the steady development of its younger Bears – sophomores Alex Aney, Jonathan Irwanto and Ethan Schiffman and freshman Bernardo Munk Mesa – who competed in tournaments including the Sherwood Collegiate Cup, Aggie Invitational, San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic, Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge and the Dennis Rizza Intercollegiate Classic.
 
Next Time
Cal plays two matches at UC Santa Barbara, facing Texas Tech on Jan. 25 and taking on the host Gauchos on Jan. 26.
 
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