College Tennis News - No. 15 Cal Plays at No. 42 Oregon, No. 29 UW

BERKELEY - Fifteenth-ranked California heads to the Pacific Northwest for Pac-12 dual matches against Oregon and Washington this week. The Golden Bears (8-8, 0-1 in the Pac-12) play the Ducks (14-3, 1-1 Pac-12) on Friday, April 5, at 1 p.m. in Eugene, Ore., and play the Huskies (15-6, 2-0 Pac-12) on Saturday, April 6, at 1 p.m. in Seattle.

Cal's March 31 conference match vs. USC - which was to air live on the Pac-12 Networks - at home at the Hellman Tennis Complex was rained out and will not be rescheduled.

Scouting the Golden Bears
• The Bears boast three players ranked in singles by the ITA (based on the March 26 poll): No. 44/junior Ben McLachlan, No. 46/junior Campbell Johnson, and No. 66/senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt
• Cal features the following ranked doubles teams (based on the March 26 poll): No. 26 Johnson/Konigsfeldt, No. 39 B. McLachlan/senior Riki McLachlan and No. 40 freshman Mads Engsted/B. McLachlan
• Seniors Konigsfeldt and Riki McLachlan are Cal's co-captains
• As of April 1, the Bears and Ducks do not have any common opponents
• Cal has a 2-2 record against common opponents with Washington: a 4-1 win over Boise State on Jan. 25 in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Berkeley, 4-1 win over Florida on Feb. 16 in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, 4-3 loss to Oklahoma in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle and 4-3 loss to Pepperdine on March 16 in Berkeley
• Peter Wright is in his 20th year as head coach at Cal

Scouting the Ducks
• Oregon beat Arizona, 6-1, in a Pac-12 dual match its last contest
• The Ducks lost its previous two matches - to Rice, 4-1, on March 16 in Houston and to Utah, 5-2, on March 29 in Salt Lake City
• Junior Robin Cambier was a 2012 All-Pac-12 honorable mention
• Nils Schyllander is in his seventh season as head coach of Oregon's men's team; he previously coached the Duck women's tennis team from 2003-06

Scouting the Huskies
• Washington hosts Stanford on Friday before playing Cal on Saturday
• The Huskies have a 2-2 record against common opponents with Cal - a 6-1 loss to Pepperdine on Jan. 23 in Seattle, 5-2 win over Boise State on Feb. 3 in Seattle, 4-2 loss to Oklahoma on Feb. 16 in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle and 4-1 win over Florida on Feb. 17 in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle
• Senior Kyle McMorrow - a 2012 All-Pac-12 First-Team selection - is ranked No. 21 in the March 26 ITA singles poll
• Matt Anger is in his 19th season as Washington's head coach

Last Time
With their wins in singles, Ben McLachlan and Gregory Bayane pulled No. 15 California to within 3-2 of fourth-ranked UCLA in the Pac-12 opener on March 29, but the Golden Bears ultimately lost the dual match, 5-2, to the Bruins at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Cal's record now stands at 8-8 (0-1 in the Pac-12), while UCLA improved to 15-1 (1-0 Pac-12).

Earlier, UCLA claimed the doubles point after wins on courts one and three. The court-three match ended first, as Bayane and sophomore Chase Melton fell to Mkrtchian and Alex Brigham, 8-4. The 40th-ranked duo of junior Campbell Johnson and senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt then lost to No. 60 Giron/Dennis Novikov, 8-6, on court one.

Konigsfeldt and Novikov met again in singles, with Cal's co-captain dropping a 6-2, 6-4, match to the 32nd-ranked Bruin. Freshman Mads Engsted then lost to No. 114 Clay Thompson, 6-4, 6-1, to give UCLA a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.

Bayane, a sophomore, claimed Cal's first point of the match with a 6-4, 6-3, upset win over No. 57 Dennis Mkrtchian on court three. McLachlan, a junior ranked 44th in singles, then upset No. 14 Marcos Giron, 6-2, 7-6(5), on court one to lift Cal to within one of the Bruins.

But UCLA clinched the victory on court six, as Melton fell to Karue Sell, 6-2, 6-4, to make the score 4-2. On court three, Johnson, ranked 46th in singles, lost to No. 19 Puget, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, to make the final score 5-2.

Next Time
Cal hosts its final two dual matches of the season against Utah on April 12 and Arizona on April 13 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.