April 17, 2000
Berkeley, Calif. -
The California men's tennis team (12-7, 2-5 Pac-10) looks to wrap up their regular season this week against non-conference foe Pepperdine on Wed., Apr. 19 at 1:30 p.m., and at UCLA and USC, on Fri. Apr. 21 and Sat. Apr. 22.
A LOOK AT PEPPERDINE: The Waves come into Wednesday's match after having captured their 10th consecutive WCC Crown by defeating Santa Clara, 6-1 this past weekend. The Waves have gone 22-1 in dual match play this year and are led by WCC Player of the Year Al Garland. They will play at Stanford on Tuesday before coming to Berkeley on Wednesday. Pepperdine won the last meeting with the Bears, 6-1 in 1999 and leads the overall series, 23-17.
A LOOK AT UCLA: The Bears face the Bruins this Friday for the second time in less than two weeks. UCLA defeated Cal on Apr. 8th, 6-1, in Berkeley. Junior doubles duo Erik Dmytruk and Scott Kintz notched one of their biggest wins of the season in this match as they upset UCLA's fourth-ranked tandem of Brandon Kramer and Jong-Min Lee, 8-3. The Bruins are now 19-3 overall and 6-1 in the Pac-10 as they defeated both Washington and Oregon this past weekend. The Bruins hold the overall lead in the series, 103-34-1.
A LOOK AT USC: The Bears head into Trojan territory this week looking to avenge their 5-2 loss on Apr. 7th in Berkeley. Cal's only singles victories of the day came at the No. 2 and No. 6 spots as John Paul Fruttero and Adrian Barnes were victorious respectively. Robert Kowalczyk and Ben Miles were the only other Cal players to pick up a win in the No. 2 doubles spot, 8-5 over Patrick Gottelesben and Daniel Langre. The Trojans are 15-7 overall and 5-2 in Pac-10 play. They hold the lead in the overall series, 112-28-4.
UTAH MATCH IN REVIEW: The Bears downed the visiting Utah Utes last Wednesday, 5-2 in a non-conference match played in Berkeley. Utah got off to a fast start, taking two of three doubles matches to steal the doubles point. Cal's doubles pair of Scott Kintz and Erik Dmytruk picked up their 22nd win of the year, defeating Utah's Trevor Ferguson and David Mercier, 8-4. The Bears faired better in singles play, winning five of six matches to seal the Cal victory. Cal sophomore Andrey Vinogradsky garnered a victory in his first dual match of the year, downing Kevin Zinger, 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 6 spot. Meanwhile junior Adrian Barnes lost his first match since returning from shoulder surgery to Utah's Trevor Ferguson, 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot.
ARIZONA MATCH IN REVIEW: The Tucson desert turned out to be not Bear friendly last weekend, as they were upset by the 71st-ranked Wildcats, 5-2. Arizona recorded the first point as they captured two of the three doubles contests. Cal's only points of the day came from junior Erik Dmytruk, who defeated Jean-Noel LaCoste, 6-4, 7-6(3) in the No. 2 spot, and freshman Robert Kowalczyk who outlasted Alex Brown, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-5.
ARIZONA STATE MATCH IN REVIEW: After falling to Arizona the day before, the Bears salvaged their trip south by defeating Arizona State, 5-2. The Bears kicked off the afternoon by taking the doubles point after capturing wins on courts one and two. In singles play, freshman John Paul Fruttero led a contingent of four Cal players who notched victories, defeating ASU's Alex Osterrieth, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8).
KOWALCZYK AND MILES MAKE APPEARANCE IN RANKINGS: The freshman duo of Robert Kowalczyk and Ben Miles made their first appearance in the WingspanBank.com National Rankings last week, coming in at No. 52. They are one of two Cal doubles tandems to be ranked in the polls as juniors Erik Dmytruk and Scott Kintz garnered their highest ranking of the year, appearing at No. 22. Dmytruk is also the only Cal player to receive a singles ranking as he checks in at No. 75.
