College Tennis News - No. 16 Cal Beats No. 73 Utah, 6-1

BERKELEY - Sixteenth-ranked California won its third straight match when it upended No. 73 Utah, 6-1, on Friday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears improved their record to 11-8 (2-1 in the Pac-12) after the conference match, while the Utes fell to 11-10 (1-4 Pac-12).

After the teams split the first two doubles matches, Cal won the doubles point when the 31st-ranked duo of junior Campbell Johnson and senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt defeated the Utah pair of Dmytro Mamedov and Ben Tasevac, 8-5, on court one.

After the teams split the first two doubles matches, Cal won the doubles point when the 31st-ranked duo of junior Campbell Johnson and senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt defeated the Utah pair of Dmytro Mamedov and Ben Tasevac, 8-5, on court one. Earlier on court two, the 41st-ranked Cal team of junior Ben McLachlan and freshman Mads Engsted were stunned by the pair of Slima Hamza and Cedric Willems, 8-6, and then sophomores Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton beat Devin Lane and Alejandro Medinilla, 8-3, on court three.

In singles, Johnson, ranked 59th, opened with a 6-2, 6-2, triumph over Medinilla on court three, followed by a win by McLachlan, ranked 35th, over Mamedov, 6-2, 6-3, on court one to give Cal a 3-0 lead over the Utes. Bayane secured Cal's team victory when he beat Lane, 7-6(6), 6-4, on court four to give the Bears a 4-0 advantage.

The Utes pushed the Bears a bit more in the last three singles matches, including on court two, where Konigsfeldt, ranked 83rd, took three sets to dispatch Hamza, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5), and on court give, at which Engsted beat Willems, 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 1-0(1). Utah claimed its lone point of the day when Cal freshman Wyatt Houghton fell to Tasevac, 7-5, 3-6 1-0(6), on court six in the last match of the day.

"Our doubles continues to improve, but today, we needed some strong singles performances to beat a tough Utah team," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "Campbell Johnson got it all started with a relatively quick straight sets win at No. 3. Ben McLachlan showed a lot of heart playing through a knee injury to close out his match, and Chris Konigsfeldt battle back after losing the first set to win in the third set. Overall, we showed some toughness out there today, and we're going to try to bring that momentum into our match with Arizona tomorrow."

Cal next hosts another conference match when Arizona takes on the Bears on Saturday, April 13, at 1 p.m. Prior to the last regular-season home match of 2013, the Bears will honor seniors Konigsfeldt and Riki McLachlan for their contributions to the program. During the course of the match, the Bears will also celebrate the life and career of Cal great Jim McManus as part of Jim McManus/Legends Day at Hellman. As part of Legends Day, Fuddruckers will provide free food to the first 500 fans at Hellman.

No. 16 California 6, No. 73 Utah 1
April 12, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex

Doubles
1: No. 31 Johnson/Konigsfeldt (California) def. Mamedov/Tasevac (Utah) - 8-5
2: Hamza/Willems (Utah) def. No. 41 Engsted/B. McLachlan (California) - 8-6
3: Bayane/Melton (California) def. Lane/Medinilla (Utah) - 8-3
(Cal wins the doubles point)

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1.

Singles
1: No. 35 Ben McLachlan (California) def. Dmytro Mamedov (Utah) - 6-2, 6-3
2: No. 83 Christoffer Konigsfeldt (California) def. Slima Hamza (Utah) - 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)
3: No. 59 Campbell Johnson (California) def. Alejandro Medinilla (Utah) - 6-2, 6-2
4: Gregory Bayane (California) def. Devin Lane (Utah) - 7-6(6), 6-4
5: Mads Engsted (California) def. Cedric Willems (Utah) - 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 1-0 (1)
6: Ben Tasevac (Utah) def. Wyatt Houghton (California) - 7-5, 3-6, 1-0(6)

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 6.