ITA
Cal’s Carl Emil Overbeck (left) and Theo Dean (right) did not lose a game in their opening match at ITA sectionals.
MALIBU – The California men’s tennis team rolled to victory in all seven of its matches on the first day of the ITA West Sectional Championships on Thursday at Pepperdine. Cal saw three of its doubles teams advance to the quarterfinals and four Golden Bears reach the singles round of 16 on Friday.
The Bears were particularly commanding in doubles, as no other school has more than one duo in the quarterfinals. Cal also has the most student-athletes in the round of 16 in singles; UCLA is second with three players in the second round.
In the opening round of 16 in doubles, Cal’s 25th-ranked Theo Dean and Carl Emil Overbeck – the tournament’s top-seeded pair – dominated Air Force’s Phillip Deaton and A.J. Moore 6-0, 6-0; 13th-ranked Alex Chang and Mikey Wright bested UC Santa Barbara’s Conrad Brown and Dominique Rolland 6-2, 6-4; and Derrick Chen and Timofey Stepanov defeated Arizona’s Casper Christensen and Zoran Ludoski 2-6, 7-5, 10-7.
In the singles opening round of 32, fourth-seeded and 123rd-ranked Chang won in three sets over 101st-ranked Karl Lee of USC 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1; Nos. 5-8-seeded and 44th-ranked Theo Dean held off Arizona’s 109th-ranked Casper Christensen 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4; Chen beat Boise State’s Jett Middleton in straight sets 6-0, 6-3; and Stepanov completed Cal’s day one sweep with a 6-0, 7-6(3) victory over UCLA’s Gianluca Ballotta.
Cal hopes to qualify as many Bears as possible for the NCAA individual tournament through sectionals. The four singles semifinalists advance to the NCAA Singles Championship, while the top three doubles teams qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship. Overbeck, who’s not competing in singles in Malibu, has already qualified for NCAA singles.
Friday’s schedule at the ITA West Sectional Championships starts with the doubles quarterfinals at 10 a.m. PT, with the singles round of 16 slated to start at 12:30 p.m. PT.
ITA West Sectional Championships
Nov. 7, 2024, in Malibu, Calif.
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
Doubles Round of 16
[1] No. 25 Theo Dean/Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) def. Phillip Deaton/A.J. Moore (Air Force), 6-0, 6-0
No. 13 Alex Chang/Mikey Wright (Cal) def….
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