The 11th-ranked California men's tennis team claimed the 11th seed and the right to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championship when the NCAA announced its postseason field Friday. In Friday's first round at the Hellman Tennis Complex, the Golden Bears (18-4) will host No. 42 Boise State (21-5) at 1 p.m. PT, after No. 22 UCLA (16-8) takes on No. 34 UC Santa Barbara (18-4) at 10 a.m. PT. Friday's winners compete Saturday at 1 p.m. PT for the right to advance to the NCAA Super Regional Round.
 
Super regionals will take place at campus sites from May 9-11. Baylor will host the rest of the NCAA Championship, with the quarterfinals, semifinals and final scheduled for May 15-18 in Waco, Texas.
 
"This is something we've been building up to for the past three years now, with the likes of Carl Emil Overbeck, Alex Chang, Derrick Chen, Theo Dean and Mikey Wright, the older guys who stayed in the program and contributed to the success," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's tennis. "They can enjoy this moment. It's nice to be No. 11 or in the top 16 and host the first two rounds. It doesn't guarantee you anything – it means we get to play in front of our fans on our home court. You get to play against a tough Boise State team and hopefully advance to the next round against either Santa Barbara or the Bruins, who are playing well. There are no guarantees. It's just about us and what we do as a team – our togetherness, our composure, our practices over the next few days and how we prepare ourselves mentally to battle. We can beat anybody, but we can also lose to anybody. That's the mentality. We have to be vigilant, be ready and not take anything for granted. Stay humble, work hard, and let's battle on Friday."
 
This has been Cal's most successful campaign under Kwinta, who joined the program in the 2021-22 season. In Kwinta's four seasons at Cal, this marks the second time he's led the Bears to the NCAA team tournament, including in 2023, and this is the first time Cal has been seeded. Along with the Bears' 18-4 record, they finished 10-3 in their inaugural season in the ACC and claimed the fourth seed in the ACC Championship. They boast three ranked singles players in No. 15 Overbeck – an All-ACC First-Team selection – No. 58 Dean and No. 76 Chang. The doubles tandem of Dean and Overbeck is ranked 44th and a member of the All-ACC Third Team.
 
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on X (@CalMensTennis), Instagram (@CalMensTennis) and Facebook (@CalMensTennis).