Feb. 28, 2013

BERKELEY - Sixteenth-ranked California (5-4) continues its dual-match season when it takes on No. 48 San Diego State (7-3) in a nonconference competition at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, in San Diego. The Golden Bears will also compete in the 124th annual Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament in nearby La Jolla, Calif., from Thursday through Sunday, March 3.

The La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club is the host of the Pacific Coast Doubles Tournament.

Scouting the Bears
• The following Golden Bears have earned national singles rankings from the ITA: No. 34 Christoffer Konigsfeldt, No. 56 Ben McLachlan, No. 69 Campbell Johnson, No. 117 Chase Melton
• In doubles, Cal boasts the following ITA rankings: No. 18 Johnson/Konigsfeldt and No. 45 Ben McLachlan/Riki McLachlan
• Cal and SDSU have three common opponents; the Bears have a 2-1 record against them - a 4-1 win over Boise State at home on Jan. 25, 5-2 win over Pacific at home on Feb. 2 and 7-0 loss at USC on Feb. 8
• Peter Wright is his 20th season as head coach at his alma mater

Scouting the Aztecs
• San Diego State and Cal have three common opponents; the Aztecs produced a 2-1 record against them - a 4-0 loss at USC on Jan. 25, 4-3 win over Pacific at home on Feb. 16 and 5-2 win over Boise State on Feb. 23 in San Diego
• Senior Derek Siddiqui is ranked 71st in singles by the ITA
• Gene Carswell is in his 10th year as head coach of San Diego State

Last Time
Gregory Bayane captured his court-four singles match to lead 12th-ranked California to a 5-2 victory over No. 28 Stanford in the Big Meet on Feb. 24 at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears (5-4) rallied in singles after losing the doubles point to the Cardinal (3-5).

The Bears began singles on a high note, with early success on most of the courts. That included the match on court one, on which 82nd-ranked Ben McLachlan quickly disposed of the 35th-ranked John Morrissey, 6-3, 6-0, to tie the team score at 1-1.

Stanford briefly retook the lead, as Wyatt Houghton fell to the Cardinal's Anthony Tsodikov, 6-4, 6-3, on court six to make the score 2-1.

But the 48th-ranked Christoffer Konigsfeldt, one of Cal's senior co-captains, got the Bears back on track with a 6-2, 7-6(2), victory over No. 91 Nolan Paige on court two to tie the match at 2-2. Cal sophomore Nikhil Jayashankar followed with a two-set win on five, 6-2, 7-6(5), to move the Bears ahead, 3-2.

When Bayane beat Stanford's Robert Stineman, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, Cal clinched the overall win, 4-2. Cal added another point when No. 61 Campbell Johnson beat Maciek Romanowicz on court three; after two close sets, Johnson shut out his opponent in the third set to prevail, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-0, to make the final score, 5-2.

Next Time
The Bears host Duke at 1 p.m. on March 10 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.