BERKELEY – The 15th-ranked California men's tennis team won for the fourth straight match and remained unbeaten at home Saturday thanks to a 4-3 victory over No. 55 Notre Dame. Senior Derrick Chen clinched the win with a three-set result over Peter Nad.
 
Cal boosted its overall record to 11-2 (4-2 ACC), including a 6-0 mark at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Notre Dame is 10-8 (0-6 ACC).
 
In doubles, the Golden Bears dropped the first match to the Fighting Irish on court three, where Cal's Mikey Wright and Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski lost 6-3 to Nad and Luis Lorens Saracho. Chen and Theo Dean earned Cal's first win of the day on court two, where they beat Jameson Corsillo and Yu Zhang 6-3. The Irish clinched the doubles point on court one, with Alex Chang and Carl Emil Overbeck falling to Chase Thompson and Sebastian Dominko 7-5.
 
Dean – ranked 36th – quickly tied the score in singles 1-1 when he triumphed over Zhang 6-1, 6-1. Lechno-Wasiutynski beat Corsillo 6-1, 6-2 to give the Bears a 2-1 lead.
 
Notre Dame tied the match 2-2 when Thompson beat Cal's Timofey Stepanov 7-6(4), 6-4.
 
Bernardo Munk Mesa, a late addition to the lineup, followed with a 6-4, 7-6(7) win over Lorens Saracho that gave the Bears a slim 3-2 lead.
 
The last two matches went to third sets, with 49th-ranked Chang battling 34th-ranked Dominko on court one and Chen facing Nad on court four. Despite suffering an injury earlier in his match, Chang persevered into the final set. Chen eventually beat Nad 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to clinch Cal's win, and Chang retired with an injury.
 
"You just knew Notre Dame was going to be tough," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis. "The way they prepare, the way they act, the way they are, I knew it was going to be war. And when we didn't have Overbeck in singles, it was up to everybody else to get the job done, and did we deliver under pressure. Holy cow, did that match have so many turns of events? At some point you think, Okay, we're good. Then you think, Okay, we're going to have a tough loss. Then later you think you're still going to win. It was like a roller coaster. You just have to stay focused on what you have to do on the court.
 
"I have to say for Alex to play on a pretty badly sprained ankle most of the match to keep us in the match and give Derrick more breathing room was an unbelievable performance. I'm proud of him. Then Theo is so reliable. It's like, Okay, that's a point Theo. We'll take that. He's just so good right now. Fryderyk is on an undefeated tear, so good for him. Stepanov is struggling right now, but he'll be back; he's a warrior. And Berni, who's coming back from an injury and didn't hit many balls this week, steps up to the plate and finds the way to win. That's huge, and then it comes down to Dezza. He turned a corner a few matches back and the rest is history for him. He's a different guy. It's good to see the guys step up when it mattered. When the chips were down, we were hurt, we were missing a player, we still came out and found a way to win. It was a gritty performance from the Bears."
 
Cal next plays at eighth-ranked Virginia on March 21.

No. 15 California (11-2, 4-2 ACC) defeated No. 55 Notre Dame (10-8, 0-6 ACC), 4-3
March 15, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Chase Thompson/Sebastian Dominko (Notre Dame) def. Alex Chang/Cal Emil Overbeck (Cal), 7-5*
2. Derrick Chen/Theo Dean (Cal) def. Jameson Corsillo/Yu Zhang (Notre Dame), 6-3
3. Peter Nad/Luis Lorens Saracho (Notre Dame) def. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski/Mikey Wright (Cal), 6-3
 
Order of Finish – 3, 2, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point for Notre Dame
 
Singles
1. No. 34 Sebastian Dominko (Notre Dame) def. No. 49 Alex Chang (Cal), 3-6, 7-5, 4-4 ret. (inj.)
2. No. 36 Theo Dean (Cal) def. Yu Zhang (Notre Dame), 6-1, 6-1
3. Chase Thompson (Notre Dame) def. Timofey Stepanov (Cal), 7-6(4), 6-4
4. Derrick Chen (Cal) def. Peter Nad (Notre Dame), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4^
5. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (Cal) def. Jameson Corsillo (Notre Dame), 6-1, 6-2
6. Bernardo Munk Mesa (Cal) def. Luis Lorens Saracho (Notre Dame), 6-4, 7-6(7)
 
Order of Finish – 2, 5, 3, 6, 4^, 1
^Clinched the overall win for Cal
 
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