Nov. 6, 2012

BERKELEY - California's Ben and Riki McLachlan will compete in doubles - and No. 16 Ben McLachlan will play in singles - in the prestigious USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships that run from Thursday, Nov. 8, through Sunday, Nov. 11, at the USTA Billie Jean National King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Columbia is the host of the tournament, which features a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw for men and women.

The brothers McLachlan - Riki, a senior, and Ben, a junior - qualified for the doubles draw by winning the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional doubles championship on Oct. 23 in Moraga, Calif. The Bears beat Joakim Norstrom and Jesse Kiuru of host Saint Mary's, 8-6, in the final. Ben McLachlan qualified for the singles competition at the indoor championships by winning the singles title on Oct. 24 at the regional tournament, beating Santa Clara's John Lamble, 6-2, 6-1.

Cal last won the doubles title in the indoor intercollegiate championships in 1991, when Matt Lucena and Bent Pedersen defeated Harvard's Mike Shyjan/Mike Zimmerman, 6-2, 7-5. The Bears also won in 1990, when Lucena paired with Doug Eisenman to beat Mississippi State's Roy Moscattini/Juan Rios, 6-4, 6-4. Cal has not won the indoor intercollegiate singles title, though Bears competed in the final in 1987 (Steve DeVries) and 1981 (Michael Bauer).

This is the third year for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships to be held at the home of the U.S. Open. Ken Thomas of RadioTennis.com will be on site throughout the week starting Thursday, providing a live broadcast beginning at 7:15 a.m. PT/10:15 a.m. ET each day.

For complete coverage of the 2012 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, including access to draws, live scores and more, please visit the official ITA event page. Follow the ITA on Twitter - @ITAtennis - for updates and news from Flushing.

Last Time at the Indoor Championships
The Golden Bears sent two doubles teams to Flushing Meadows in 2011. The fifth-ranked and fourth-seeded pair of Nick Andrews and Christoffer Konigsfeldt fell in the main draw's semifinal round to the second-seeded and third-ranked Ohio State team of Chase Buchanan-Blas Rola, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the doubles consolation semifinals, Cal's Carlos Cueto and Ben McLachlan lost to Princeton's Matt Siow-Matt Spindler, 8-6.

Cal was the only the only school to secure two spots among the elite doubles field of 20.

Next Time
The Bears return to action in the New Year when they compete in the National Collegiate Tennis Classic from Jan. 18-20, 2013, in Palm Springs, Calif.

A Golden Olympics for the Golden Bears
A total of 46 Golden Bear athletes, coaches and staff members represented Cal during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and together, they brought home a school-record-tying 17 medals (11 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze). The Bears have won 50 medals over the past three Olympics (16 in 2004, 17 in 2008, 17 in 2012), and they have captured 178 medals all-time (99 gold).

Cal No. 1 Public University in the Country
The University of California is the No. 1-ranked public university in the United States, according to U.S. News and World Report. The faculty has won 22 Nobel Prizes, including nine current members, while 28 alumni have received a Nobel Prize. A National Research Council analysis of U.S. universities concluded that the campus has the largest number of highly ranked graduate programs in the country (48 of 52). Cal also has a long commitment to public service, with more than 4,000 students annually doing volunteer work and more than 3,000 Peace Corps participants all-time.