The third time was the charm for the Golden Bears.
UCLA had beaten California in its previous two matches this season, but in their third meeting of the season, No. 4 seed Cal (14-12, 4-4 Pac-12) bested No. 1 seed UCLA men’s tennis (17-5, 8-0), knocking the Bruins out of the Pac-12 tournament and denying them a chance at repeating as tournament conference champions.
UCLA and Cal first faced off at home Feb. 8, when the Bruins defeated the Bears by a score of 4-2. After losing the doubles point, UCLA rebounded in singles, capturing four out of the six matches.
“Losing the doubles point always puts the pressure on us in singles,” said coach Billy Martin after the match. “I was pleased with (freshman) Govind Nanda winning that match for us under pressure, and the great leadership from (senior) Maxime Cressy and (sophomore) Keegan Smith. A great win from (junior) Ben Goldberg, and I’m hoping it gives him a lot of confidence.”
Goldberg said the Bears doubles teams demonstrated that they should not be underestimated, despite the team being unranked at the time.
“They won the doubles point at USC, and their lineup features many good players at all different spots,” Goldberg said after his win. “They have the team’s and my full respect.”
The next meeting between the teams was March 30 in conference play. The Bruins won by an identical score of 4-2.
The Bruins came away with the doubles point to begin the match, and wins from Cressy, Smith, and Nanda clinched the victory for UCLA.
Goldberg was not able to repeat his performance against the Bears, losing to Ben Draper 7-6 (5), 6-3. Aside from Goldberg, it was the same singles players who won the match for the Bruins on both occasions.
The Pac-12 tournament matchup was the third meeting between the Bears and the Bruins. Like the February meeting, the Bruins dropped the doubles point, with the doubles team of sophomore Bryce Pereira and freshman Patrick Zahraj falling in a tiebreaker on court three, 7-6 (4).
At No. 1 and No. 2 singles, Cressy and Smith faced the same opponents as they did in March – Yuta Kikuchi and Jack Molloy, respectively. The two had won their singles matches against Cal in each of the previous meetings this season. On Saturday, the two matches were left unfinished – with the Bruins leading on both courts when they were called.
Nanda faced off against the Bears’ Paul Barretto – the same opponent as in the March match. Nanda claimed a 6-3, 6-2 victory during that meeting. On Friday, Nanda fell by a score of 6-4, 6-4 to Barretto.
Losses at No. 5 and No. 6 singles gave the Bears the win. Goldberg faced a different opponent than in his matches in February and March and was defeated 6-3, 6-2. Zahraj, at No. 4 singles, was the only Bruin to pick up a singles point.
“It’s good to get these matches out of the way now, rather than the NCAA matches,” Pereira said. “All of the guys know what this feeling is right now, but we need to use it as fuel for the regional rounds coming up. We just have to get in the proper mindset.”
The Bruins will enter the NCAA tournament as the No. 11 seed. They will face Grand Canyon at home Friday and, should they win, will face the winner of Oklahoma State and Ole Miss on Saturday.