Husky Start Pac-12 Play In Bay On Busy Road Trip

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY MEN’S TENNIS

 

Saturday, Mar. 16
#74 Washington at #30 Stanford, 1 p.m. | Live Scores/Video
 
Sunday, Mar. 17
#74 Washington at California, 2 p.m. | Live Video
 
Tuesday, Mar. 19
#74 Washington at #62 Santa Clara, 2 p.m. | Live Video
 
Thursday, Mar. 21
#74 Washington at #40 Pepperdine, 1 p.m. | Live Scores/Video
 
SEATTLE – Washington takes a spring break trip to California this week, where the itinerary includes four matches over the span of six days. The Huskies will first play their first Pac-12 matches of the season at Stanford and Cal this Saturday and Sunday, before moving on early next week for non-conference duals at Santa Clara on Tuesday, and ending at Pepperdine next Thursday, Mar. 21.
 
The Huskies (6-5) are ranked 74th this week and three of their four opponents over the next week are ranked, giving UW multiple opportunities to make a move up the ITA pecking order. The Cardinal are ranked 30th, Santa Clara is No. 62, and Pepperdine is ranked 40th.
 
First up is the Stanford dual in Palo Alto at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Stanford is 8-4 and coming off a 4-0 home win over USC. Ranked Cardinal include No. 31 Nishesh Basavareddy, No. 43 Samir Banerjee, and No. 81 Neel Rajesh. Last year the Huskies upset Stanford in Seattle, their first win over the Cardinal since 2007.
 
California is 4-6 and will host Oregon on Saturday in its Pac-12 opener. Cal’s best win was a 4-0 sweep of Pepperdine on Feb. 11. Ryder Jackson is currently No. 67 nationally in singles. Alex Chang and Michael Wright are ranked 65th in doubles. The Huskies pulled out a tight 4-3 win over the Bears in Seattle last year, with Dzianis Zharyn breaking a 3-3 tie with a third-set win.
 
Santa Clara is 9-2 and has won four in a row, including a ranked win over No. 53 South Florida and another over No. 69 New Mexico. Its only losses were 3-4 defeats to UCSB and Utah State. Santa Clara also earned a 4-3 win over California on Jan. 21. No. 1 singles player Christian Lerby is ranked 78th.
 

Pepperdine has a top-40 ranking despite a 5-7 record. The Waves still have big wins over USC, Vanderbilt, and Georgia Tech, and close losses to top-25 teams like Michigan State (2-5), Arizona State (3-4), and Texas A&M (3-4). Edward Winter is ranked 24th nationally in singles. One Waves doubles team is ranked, at No. 64, Maxi Homberg and Winter.