March 14, 2010

Box Score in PDF Format

HOUSTON - The 11th-ranked California men's tennis team (9-4) claimed a 4-3 win over No. 51 Rice (6-8) in a matinee dual at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on Sunday, March 14. The Golden Bears dropped the doubles point but came back with four consecutive wins on the singles courts to clinch the victory as sophomore Nick Andrews completed a 6-4, 6-1 win over Michael Nuesslein at the third singles position for his 20th win of the year.

Cal opened up with the first win of the day as juniors Jonathan Dahan and Bozhidar Katsarov teamed up for an 8-6 win over the No. 52-ranked duo of Nuesslein and Christian Saravia at the top court. The Owls responded to get a win at the second doubles court as Bruno Rosa and Isamu Tachibana took an 8-5 victory against junior Pedro Zerbini and sophomore Sky Lovill. The doubles point came down to a tiebreaker at the third court where Andrews and freshman Riki McLachlan were facing Oscar Podlewski and Dennis Polyakov. Rice claimed the first point of the day as the Owls took a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker for a 9-8 win at court three.

The Bears didn't stay down long as No. 73-ranked Dahan blasted through his match with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Podlewski at the second singles court for his 10th singles win of the year. Cal went ahead, 2-1, as No. 42 Zerbini upset No. 25 Rosa, 6-4, 6-1, at the top court to claim the 15th singles win of the year; his eighth over a ranked opponent. The Bears continued to press and claimed a 3-1 lead on a win at court four where Katsarov completed a 6-4, 6-2 win over Sam Garforth-Bles.

Andrews came through and sealed the match for Cal next with his 20th win of the year on court three. With the match decided, the Owls claimed the final two points with three-set victories on the fifth and sixth singles courts. Saravia won a 10-4 decision in a third-set tiebreaker over Lovill at court six after dropping his second set in an 8-6 tiebreaker. Tachibana tacked up the final point of the day as he took out McLachlan at court five, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The Bears will begin Pac-10 conference matches as they host Arizona (8-4, 0-0 Pac-10) in a 1:30 p.m. PT dual at the Hellman Tennis Complex on Friday, March 26. Please check CalBears.com for more information and links to live streaming video.

No. 11 California 4, No. 51 Rice 3
Jake Hess Tennis Stadium | Houston, Texas
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Doubles
1. Dahan/Katsarov (CAL) def. No. 52 Nuesslein/Saravia (RICE) 8-6
2. Rosa/Tachibana (RICE) def. Lovill/Zerbini (CAL) 8-5
3. Podlewski/Polyakov (RICE) def. Andrews/McLachlan (CAL) 9-8(5)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3* (Rice wins doubles point)
Singles
1. No. 42 Pedro Zerbini (CAL) def. No. 25 Bruno Rosa (RICE) 6-4, 6-1
2. No. 73 Jonathan Dahan (CAL) def. Oscar Podlewski (RICE) 6-1, 6-0
3. Nick Andrews (CAL) def. Michael Nuesslein (RICE) 6-4, 6-1
4. Bozhidar Katsarov (CAL) def. Sam Garforth-Bles (RICE) 6-4, 6-2
5. Isamu Tachibana (RICE) def. Riki McLachlan (CAL) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
6. Christian Saravia (RICE) def. Sky Lovill (CAL) 6-4, 6-7(6), 1-0(4)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 4, 3*, 6, 5