Cal Closes Home Schedule At Hellman

Cal will honor the careers of Philip Hjorth, Yuta Kikuchi and Siddhant Banthia prior to the USC match on Saturday.

MTEN4/5/2023 2:44 PM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The 43rd-ranked California men’s tennis team concludes its regular-season home schedule when the Golden Bears (9-7, 1-2 Pac-12) host No. 28 UCLA (9-5, 1-1) on Friday at 1 p.m. PDT and No. 10 USC (11-6, 1-1) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
Surrounding the two matches, the Bears will celebrate the accomplishments of three segments of their community.
 
As part of Cal Athletics’ year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the men’s tennis program will honor Elaine Garcia – Cal’s Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Medicine, and the Bears’ long-time trainer – during Friday’s match.
 
Prior to Saturday’s match, the Bears will laud the careers of senior Philip Hjorth as well as Yuta Kikuchi and Siddhant Banthia, who are both pursuing graduate certificates at Cal, in its Senior Day ceremony. Also on Saturday, Cal will hold its annual McManus Legends Day, with the Bears commemorating the legacy of late alumnus Jim McManus throughout the match. As part of McManus Legends Day, Fuddruckers will provide free hamburgers to fans at Hellman while supplies last.
 
Admission is free for regular-season home tennis at Hellman. Additionally, fans can watch home matches through the Hellman live stream by clicking here and can keep track of the Bears on the team’s Twitter @CalMensTennis.
 
Poll Position
Cal is ranked 43rd in this week’s ITA team rankings. Yuta Kikuchi (12-6) is ranked 37th in singles, and the duo of Lucas Magnaudet and Ryder Jackson (13-2) is ranked 60th in doubles.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Cal’s ties with the SoCal schools include Kris Kwinta – Cal’s Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis who is a UCLA alumnus (Class of 2008) and a former USC associate head coach (2014-21) and assistant coach (2012-14) – and junior Ryder Jackson, who transferred to Cal from USC last summer
• Jackson had an impressive first fall as a Bear, reaching the singles final of the ITA Northwest Super Regional Championships and competing in singles in the ITA National Fall Championships
• Yuta Kikuchi posted a big win In the Hawaii Invitational on Jan. 9, defeating Duke’s…