No. 28 Cal Visits Waves, Gauchos

Carl Emil Overbeck and the Bears moved up five spots in this week’s ITA rankings to No. 28.

MTEN3/23/2023 11:31 AM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The 28th-ranked California men’s tennis team closes out its nonconference schedule this weekend by visiting No. 40 Pepperdine and No. 32 UC Santa Barbara. The Golden Bears (9-4) play the Waves (6-7) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and face the Gauchos (14-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Fans can watch the Pepperdine match and track live scores in Malibu by clicking here and can watch the UCSB contest here. Please stay tuned to @CalMensTennis on Twitter for updates.
 
Poll Position
Cal improved five spots in Tuesday’s ITA team rankings, moving from 33rd to 28th. In the ITA singles poll, Yuta Kikuchi (9-3) is ranked 46th and Ryder Jackson (16-8) is ranked 120th. In doubles, Kikuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck (4-0) are ranked 63rd, while Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet (8-1) are ranked 64th.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Cal has a 26-34 record in the all-time series with Pepperdine, though the Bears defeated the Waves, 4-2, in the teams’ last meeting in 2017
• The Bears have a 30-1 all-time record against UCSB, including a 4-1 victory over the Gauchos’ in their last clash in 2019
• Ryder Jackson had an impressive fall, 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 fourth-ranked Garrett Johns, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(5)
• In the fall, Kikuchi won his first professional singles title when he took the crown at the Norman Open in Oklahoma; the Japan native also reached the singles final of the KPSF Open in San Francisco
• Sophomore Carl Emil Overbeck has shone in doubles and singles, joining Jackson in the singles semifinals of super regionals and teaming with Kikuchi to repeat as doubles champs in the Battle in the Bay Classic in September
• The duo of sophomore Mikey Wright and freshman John Kim won the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Berkeley in October
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA ’08) is in his second season as the Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis
• Former BYU player Francis Sargeant is in his second year as a Cal assistant coach

Scouting the…