OJAI, Calif. – Fresh off clinching the Pac-12 regular season title with a 4-2 win over crosstown rival USC, the second-ranked UCLA men's tennis team gears up for postseason action. The first-seeded Bruins, who posted a 20-2 record on the season and an unblemished 7-0 mark in conference play, will face either fourth-seeded Stanford or fifth-seeded Oregon on Friday at 10 am PDT. The winner of the Pac-12 Tournament receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships next month.
Last time out, UCLA completed the regular season sweep of then No. 9 USC. After securing the doubles point on courts 1 and 2, the Bruins won four of six first sets in singles play. The Trojans struck first in singles when No. 106 Jake DeVine handed No. 86 Karue Sell his first loss of the spring season. DeVine's straight-set win ended Sell's 16-match winning streak and evened the score at 1-1. Brymer and Di Giulio quickly responded for UCLA on courts 3 and 6, respectively, downing their Trojan opponents in straights. UCLA held a 3-1 advantage with three matches still playing.
USC's No. 120 Thibault Forget then cut the deficit to 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Logan Staggs. At the top of the lineup, No. 8 Mackenzie McDonald trailed No. 19 Max de Vroome in the second set and No. 45 Martin Redlicki led No. 43 Nick Crystal in the third.
The clincher came from court 2 as Redlicki took the third set, 6-3, to give the Bruins a 4-2 lead. With the win, UCLA improved to 7-0 in Pac-12 play and secured the No. 1 seed at the Pac-12 Championships.
The Usual Suspects
#1 Singles – McDonald is one of the top players in the country. Currently ranked No. 10, he finished the regular season with an 11-1 mark. The junior is 9-1 against ranked opponents—his only loss at the hands of Virginia's Ryan Shane, ranked 11th at the time. McDonald spent the fall playing challengers and is currently ranked No. 424 in the ATP rankings.
#2 Singles – Last time out, Redlicki clinched the Pac-12 regular season title for UCLA when he downed USC's No. 43 Nick Crystal in three sets. His performance in the Bruins' regular season finale earned him Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week honors. Ranked No. 42 in the latest ITA singles rankings, Redlicki is 10-1 at No. 2 this spring and boasts a 16-3 dual match record overall. The sophomore is 6-1 against ranked opponents this spring—most notably pulling off the straight-set upset of No. 17 Andre Goransson of Cal on April 2.
#3 Singles – Junior Gage Brymer has split time at Nos. 2 and 3 this spring, compiling a 12-5 mark. In the middle of the lineup, Brymer is 6-1 overall and 2-1 against ranked opponents. Brymer is currently ranked No. 55 in the country.
#4 Singles – Last time out, Sell suffered his first loss of the spring season as No. 106 Jake DeVine snapped Sell's 16-match winning streak with a straight-set win. The 92nd-ranked redshirt senior is 16-1 overall and 6-1 against ranked opponents in dual match play.
Comeback Kids
UCLA has come back to win the match after dropping the doubles point four out of five times this season. The Bruins have twice rallied to defeat Stanford this spring—first edging the Cardinal, 4-3, at home on Feb. 27, and then coasting to a 4-1 win in the Bay Area on April 2. UCLA also mounted a comeback to take down No. 27 Oregon (March 25) and No. 16 California (April 2) after being swept in doubles play. The Bruins' only loss after starting with a 1-0 deficit was to top-ranked Virginia on Feb. 9.
Clash of the Crosstown Titans
Since the Pac-12 moved to a team tournament format in 2012, two college tennis programs have won the conference title – USC in 2012 and 2015, and UCLA in 2013 and 2014. Both times the Bruins came away with the title, they did so against the Trojans. UCLA has twice entered the tournament as the regular season champion, only coming away with the tournament title one of those times. In 2012, UCLA fell to USC in the final, 4-2. The following year, the Bruins added the tournament title to their belts with a 4-2 win over the Trojans. In 2013, USC clinched the regular season title but UCLA avenged the 2012 outcome, securing its second straight tournament title.
Movin' On Up
The Bruins started the spring season as the No. 14 team in the country in the first team rankings of 2016. After a two-week stint at No. 12, UCLA cracked the top 10, where it has remained since Feb. 3. The Bruins have slowly crept up the rankings, originally peaking at No. 4 following a 4-2 loss to North Carolina in the semifinals of the 2016 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship on Feb. 14. After a few weeks ranked sixth then fifth, the Bruins were back at fourth following a sweep of the Bay Area teams. After clinching the Pac-12 regular season title with its win over USC on April 17, UCLA is currently ranked second in the nation behind Virginia.
Weekly Winners
The Pac-12 Conference named 14 Players of the Week this season. UCLA led the conference with five honorees, followed by USC with four, Cal with three, and Oregon and Washington with one apiece. Junior standout McDonald received the nod four times, sweeping the weekly accolade with UCLA women's tennis player Catherine Harrison on Feb. 29. Redlicki closed out the regular season with the final Pac-12 POW honor. UCLA has garnered 30 weekly accolades all-time.
Pac-12 competition will be held in conjunction with the 116th Annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. The Pac-12 men will compete at Libbey Park in Ojai for all rounds. The Pac-12 women will play the first two rounds at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club, and then will play the semifinals and finals at Libbey Park. The men's team championship match will be played at Libbey Park on Saturday at 6 p.m. The women's singles championship match is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday at Libbey Park and will be followed by the doubles final at 1 p.m.
Pac-12 Network will be broadcasting the tennis championships live for both of the men's matches on Friday as well as the Championship match on Saturday. The women's singles championship on Sunday will be broadcast live at 10 a.m. along with the doubles championship at 1 p.m. Live results are available here.