Mar. 31, 1997
Cal Travels to No. 17 USC and No. 1 UCLA
THIS WEEK: April 4 at USC Los Angeles 1:30 p.m.
April 5 at UCLA Los Angeles Noon
NEXT WEEK: April 7 ILLINOIS BERKELEY 1:30 p.m.
April 11 at Arizona Tucson, AZ 1:30 p.m.
April 12 at Arizona State Tempe, AZ Noon
THE MATCH-UP: On Friday, April 4, at 1:30 p.m., the Cal men's tennis team plays at No. 17 USC. Following the match, the Bears head for Westwood where the will face the top-ranked UCLA Bruins, Saturday at Noon.
THE LINEUPS: Head coach Peter Wright has yet to set a lineup for this week's matches, however, look for Chris Santoso, Alex Sueur, Nathan Jackmon, David Sutton, Minh Le and Brian Fernando to see action in singles play. With No. 1 Bobby Mahal lost for the season, the doubles lineups look to be Sutton/Santoso, Jackmon/Sueur and Le/Gross.
MAHAL LOST FOR SEASON: Junior Bobby Mahal will miss the remainder of the year due to cartilage damage in his right elbow. Mahal is expected to undergo arthroscopic surgery in the next few weeks. Before going down, Mahal teamed with Nathan Jackmon to win the 1996 Rolex regional last November. The pair was ranked as high as No. 11 on the ITA charts while he garnered a No. 21 ranking for his singles play.
PREVIOUS MATCH UPDATE: The Cal men's tennis team had a strong showing over last weekend notching victories over Pac-10 Southern Division foes Arizona State, March 28, and Arizona, March 29. Against The Sun Devils, the Bears swept the doubles play earning a point heading into singles action. Chris Santoso defeated Sergio Elias at No. 1, 6-3, 6-3, but the Bears dropped matches at Nos. 2-4. Cal's Minh Le and Brian Fernando were equal to the challenge as the secured wins playing at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively as Cal hung on for their first conference win of the season, 4-3.
On March 29, against Arizona, the Bears used the momentum from the ASU victory, rolling to a 6-1, defeat, of the Arizona Wildcats. Key to the win were three three-set victories posted by Santoso, Nathan Jackmon, and Le.
THE COMPETITION: USC enters the weekend with a ranking of No. 17 in the current ITA poll. The Trojans are 12-2 on the year, 4-1 in the Pac-10 Southern Division. USC is led by George Bastl, who has compiled an 11-2 record at No. 1 singles.
UCLA enters the weekend as the No. 1-ranked team in the current ITA poll. The Bruins are 18-1 on the year and are coming off a 5-2 win over No. 4 Middle Tennessee. They are led by senior Eric Taino who has a record of 15-4 at No. 1 singles.
CAL IN THE RANKINGS: The Bears are currently the No. 46-ranked team in the ITA's Rolex Spring No. 2 rankings, released March 18. Individually, Cal players rank as follows:
Doubles
40. Chris Santoso (so.)/David Sutton (jr.)
The ITA's Spring No. 3 ranking will be released April 1.
THE COACHES: Peter Wright enters his fourth year at the helm of the Cal program after spending last summer in Atlanta as head coach of the Irish Olympic tennis team. The ninth coach and fourth alumnus to lead the Bears, he boasts a 46-33 (.582) career record and earned Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1994. Wright is assisted by associate head coach Cordell Ho, who is also in his fourth year with the Bears.
California Individual Dual Match Results
Singles No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 Dual Total
Chris Cornell 1-2 1-2
Brian Fernando 2-2 5-3 7-5
Adam Gross 0-1 0-1
Nathan Jackmon 1-3 3-2 1-2 1-0 6-7
Minh Le 1-0 2-1 6-2 0-1 9-4
Bobby Mahal 1-0 1-0 2-0
Kian Raisadeh 1-0 1-0
Chris Santoso 4-2 3-1 2-2 9-5
Alex Sueur 2-5 0-3 2-0 4-8
David Sutton 0-2 1-2 4-3 1-0 6-7
Doubles No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 Dual Total
Jackmon/Mahal 2-1 2-1
Jackmon/Fernando 0-1 0-2 3-3 3-6
Le/Sueur 4-2 1-2 5-4
Santoso/Sutton 6-4 3-1 9-4
Santoso/Sueur 1-0 1-0
Sutton/Raiszadeh 1-0 1-0
Le/Gross 3-1 3-1
Jackmon/Sueur 2-0 2-0
