College Tennis News - No. 13 Cal Tames Gators at ITA Indoors

Christoffer Konigsfeldt and the Bears beat Florida at the ITA National Men'...

SEATTLE - Ben McLachlan's three-set singles win over Bob Van Overbeek clinched No. 13 California's 4-1 victory over 11th-ranked Florida on Saturday evening in the consolation bracket of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship at the Seattle Tennis Club. The Golden Bears' record improved to 4-3. The Gators' record is now 6-2.

After dropping the first set on a long tiebreaker - 16-14 - to Van Overbeek, McLachlan, a junior ranked 82nd, rebounded to dominate the second-set and win the third to ultimately prevail, 6-7(14), 6-1, 6-4, over the 78th-ranked Van Overbeek on court one.

The Bears opened the match with McLachlan and freshman Mads Engsted pairing up to beat Florida's 46th-ranked team of Mike Alford and Florent Diep, 8-3, on court two. Cal's 14th-ranked team of senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt and junior Campbell Johnson then secured the doubles point with an 8-6 victory over Gordon Watson and Billy Federhofer on court one.

In singles, Johnson, newly ranked No. 61, made quick work of No. 108 Stephane Piro on court three, 6-2, 6-0, to push Cal's lead in the team score, 2-0. But Federhofer topped Cal sophomore Nikhil Jayashankar, 6-3, 7-6(5), at court six to make the score 2-1.

The other four singles matches all went to three sets, with Konigsfeldt, ranked No. 48, beating No. 36 Diep, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to make the score 3-0, before McLachlan's court one victory sealed the win.

"The win in doubles set the tone for the match," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "We had four singles matches split sets, and I have to give our guys credit for keeping high energy and focus throughout the match. Florida struggled a bit with the faster courts, but overall it was a strong performance to bounce back from losing our last three matches to the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the country."

Cal will next play on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of the Saturday night match between No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 16 Washington.

No. 13 California 4, No. 11 Florida 1

2013 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship

Saturday, Feb. 16

Seattle Tennis Club| Seattle, Wash.

Doubles

1: No. 14 Konigsfeldt/Johnson (Cal) def. Watson/Federhofer (Florida) - 8-6

2: Engsted/B. McLachlan (Cal) def. No. 46 Alford/Diep (Florida) - 8-3

3: Bayane/Melton (Cal) vs. Piro/Van Overbeek (Florida) - 7-6 DNF

(Cal wins the doubles point)

Order of Finish: 2, 1.

Singles

1: No. 82 Ben McLachlan (Cal) def. No. 78 Bob Van Overbeek (Florida) - 6-7(14), 6-1, 6-4

2: No. 48 Christoffer Konigsfeldt (Cal) def. No. 36 Florent Diep (Florida) - 6-1, 4-6, 6-2

3: No. 61 Campbell Johnson (Cal) def. No. 108 Stephane Piro (Florida) - 6-2, 6-0

4: Gregory Bayane (Cal) vs. Gordon Watson (Florida) - 4-6, 7-6(4), 5-2 DNF

5: Mads Engsted (Cal) vs. Mike Alford (Florida) - 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-6 DNF

6: Billy Federhofer (Florida) def. Nikhil Jayashankar (Cal) - 6-3, 7-6(5)

Order of Finish: 3, 6, 2, 1.