Bears Head To ITA West Sectionals

Theo Dean and the Bears seek to qualify for the postseason at ITA regionals at Pepperdine.

MTEN11/5/2024 11:09 PM | By: Cal Athletics

With one more chance to secure berths in the NCAA individual championships, the California men’s tennis team is sending six Golden Bears to compete in the ITA West Sectional Championships starting Thursday at Pepperdine. Theo Dean, Alex Chang, Timofey Stepanov and Derrick Chen will play at sectionals in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Singles Championship. The duos of Chang and Mikey Wright, Dean and Carl Emil Overbeck, and Chen and Stepanov are playing at sectionals to attempt to advance to the NCAA Doubles Championship.
 
From each of the four ITA sectionals – Central, South, East and West – taking place this week, six singles players (the semifinalists and two quarterfinal playoff winners) and three doubles pairs (the champion, runner-up and third-place team) will qualify for NCAAs.
 
Here’s more information for this week’s event:
 
At ITA West Sectional Championships
Where: Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Malibu, Calif.
When: Thursday-Sunday, times TBA
Watch: Live Stream
Draws
 
Scouting the Bears

• Senior Carl Emil Overbeck has had a stellar fall, capturing the singles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, finishing with Theo Dean as the doubles runners-up at regionals, and winning the singles title and, with Dean, the doubles crown at the Battle in the Bay Classic
• Overbeck qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship by virtue of reaching the ITA Northwest Regional Championships singles final in October
• In the ITA rankings, Overbeck (16-2 record) is ranked 56th in singles and the doubles team of Overbeck and Dean (8-3) is ranked 25th
• Overbeck’s Battle in the Bay singles title came with a wild card into the Tiburon Challenger, a Bay Area professional tournament
• In the Battle in the Bay singles quarterfinals, Overbeck upset top-ranked Ozan Baris of Michigan State 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
• Also at the Battle in the Bay Classic, Overbeck won a singles shootout that earned him wild-card entry to the Solano Challenger, another pro tournament
• Theo Dean, a graduate transfer from Yale, has shone in his first few months as a Golden Bear, pairing with Overbeck to reach the doubles final at ITA regionals and win the doubles title at the…