Mar. 12, 1997
No. 23 Cal Hosts Oklahoma, Saint Mary's and San Jose State
THIS WEEK:
March 14 OKLAHOMA BERKELEY 1:30 p.m.
March 16 SAINT MARY'S BERKELEY 9 a.m.
March 16 SAN JOSE STATE BERKELEY 2 p.m.
NEXT WEEK: March 22 at Fresno State, Fresno, Noon
THE MATCH-UP: On Friday, March 14 at 1:30 p.m., the Cal men's tennis team hosts the Oklahoma and returns to the court on Sunday, March 16, for a double-header. The Bears will face Saint Mary's at 9 a.m. and take on San Jose State at 2 p.m. All matches are scheduled to be played at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley.
THE LINEUPS: Head coach Peter Wright has yet to set a lineup for this week's matches, however, Cal's No. 1 singles player, Bobby Mahal is slated to return to action this week after a six week layoff. In addition, look for Alex Sueur, David Sutton, Nathan Jackmon, Chris Santoso and Minh Le, to see action against Oklahoma. Brian Fernando will play this weekend while Chris Cornell and Adam Gross both should have an opportunity to get another match under their belts before Sunday's matches are over.
PREVIOUS MATCH UPDATE: The California men's tennis team defeated the University of Oregon, 6-1, on March 5 in Berkeley. The Bears swept the doubles matches to win the doubles point before going on to win at Nos. 1 through 5 singles. On March 8, Cal returned to the courts to open Pac-10 Southern Division play against Stanford. The Cardinal was ranked No. 5 heading into the match and showed the Bears why as they swept the singles competition. Stanford's success continued on the doubles courts as it won the doubles point completing a 7-0 shutout of the Bears. Cal's lone bright spot on the day came at No. 1 doubles where David Sutton and Chris Santoso outplayed the No. 22-ranked combination in the nation, defeating Paul Goldstein and Ryan Wolters, 9-8, 7-5 in the tiebreaker.
THE COMPETITION: Oklahoma enters this week with an overall record of 10-2 in dual match play. The Sooners are currently ranked No. 64 in the ITA poll released on March 5. Oklahoma arrives in Berkeley form San Jose, where it defeated the SJSU Spartans 7-0 on March 12.
Saint Mary's is coached by Michael Wayman and have a record of 4-5 on the year. The Gaels come to Hellman on the heels of their 5-2 loss to Boston College.
San Jose State has an overall record of 3-7 in their 1997 campaign. SJSU is led Steve Reilly who play No. 1 singles and doubles for the Spartans.
CAL IN THE RANKINGS: The Bears are currently the No. 32-ranked team in the ITA's Rolex Spring No. 1 rankings, released March 5. Individually, Cal players rank as follows:
Singles
26. Bobby Mahal (jr.)
Doubles
19. Bobby Mahal (jr.)/Nathan Jackmon (jr.)
The ITA's Spring No. 2 ranking will be released in mid-March.
THE COACHES: Peter Wright enters his fourth year at the helm of the Cal program after spending last summer in Atlanta as head coach of the Irish Olympic tennis team. The ninth coach and fourth alumnus to lead the Bears, he boasts a 42-32 (.567) career record and earned Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1994. Wright is assisted by associate head coach Cordell Ho, who is also in his fourth year with the Bears.
California Individual Dual Match Results through 3-3-97
Singles No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 Dual Total
Chris Cornell 1-0 1-0
Brian Fernando 2-0 2-3 4-3
Adam Gross 0-1 0-1
Nathan Jackmon 0-2 1-1 1-1 1-0 3-4
Minh Le 1-0 1-0 3-2 5-2
Bobby Mahal 1-0 1-0
Kian Raisadeh 1-0 1-0
Chris Santoso 3-1 2-2 5-3
Alex Sueur 2-5 1-0 3-5
David Sutton 0-2 1-0 2-2 3-4
Doubles No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 Dual Total Pac-10 * All Conf.* Tourny
Jackmon/Mahal 2-0 2-0
Jackmon/Fernando 0-1 2-3 2-4
Le/Sueur 3-2 1-1 4-3
Santoso/Sutton 5-0 1-1 6-1
Santoso/Sueur 1-0 1-0
Sutton/Raiszadeh 1-0 1-0
