LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The second-ranked UCLA men's tennis team begins its quest for the NCAA title this Friday when it hosts Weber State to open NCAA Regional play. The first-round match takes place at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts at 1 pm PDT.
The Pac-12 regular season and tournament champion Bruins (22-2) earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA field and take on the Wildcats (14-7) in the first round on Friday, May 13. The other first-round match on Friday features San Diego (23-7) and Vanderbilt (17-13). The two winners will meet in the second round on Saturday, May 14, at 1 pm PDT.
Teams that advance through NCAA Regional play will earn a spot in the NCAA Round of 16 in Tulsa, Okla., where teams will compete for the national championship, May 20-24. The event will be hosted by the University of Tulsa.
CONFERENCE SWEEP
After clinching the Pac-12 regular season title with a 4-2 win over crosstown rival USC (April 17), the second-ranked UCLA men's tennis team completed the conference sweep by defeating third-seeded Cal in the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Championship final (April 23). With the 4-1 win, the regular season conference champions captured the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament title.
Ever since the conference moved to a team tournament format in 2012, the Bruins have won titles in three of the five years (2013, 2014, 2016).
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
#1 Singles – Mackenzie McDonald is the sixth-ranked player in the nation in singles. The junior is 13-1 at the top of the lineup and 11-1 against ranked opponents—his only loss at the hands of Virginia's Ryan Shane, ranked 11th at the time. Last time out, McDonald clinched the Pac-12 Tournament title for UCLA when he rallied to defeat Cal's Florian Lakat in three sets. McDonald received an automatic bid into the Division 1 singles championship to take place following the team championship.
#2 Singles – Sophomore Martin Redlicki clinched the Pac-12 regular season title for UCLA when he downed USC's 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. 38 in the latest ITA singles rankings, Redlicki is 11-1 at No. 2 this spring and boasts a 17-3 dual match record overall. The sophomore is 7-1 against ranked opponents this spring—most notably pulling off the straight-set upset of No. 17 Andre Goransson of Cal on April 2. Redlicki received an at-large bid into the Division 1 singles championship.
#3 Singles – Junior Gage Brymer has split time at Nos. 2 and 3 this spring, compiling a 13-5 mark. In the middle of the lineup, Brymer is 7-1 overall and 3-1 against ranked opponents. Brymer is currently ranked No. 58 in the country. He is the third alternate for the Division 1 singles championship.
#4 Singles – Karue Sell suffered his first loss of the spring season on April 17 as No. 106 Jake DeVine snapped Sell's 16-match winning streak with a straight-set win. The 101st-ranked redshirt senior is 17-2 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 five out of six times this season. The Bruins have rallied to defeat Stanford three times this spring—first edging the Cardinal, 4-3, at home on Feb. 27, then coasting to a 4-1 win in the Bay Area on April 2, and lastly advancing to the Pac-12 final with a 4-1 win over Stanford in the semifinals. 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.
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 climbed to 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 Mackenzie McDonald received the nod four times, sweeping the weekly accolade with UCLA women's tennis player Catherine Harrison on Feb. 29. Martin Redlicki closed out the regular season with the final Pac-12 POW honor. UCLA has garnered 30 weekly accolades all-time.
Single day tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth/students (with valid ID). Tickets can be purchased at the entrance to Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts or online. Parking is available in the Sunset Village Structure (Lot SV), just south of the tennis courts.
Live stats for Friday's match are available here. For updates, follow UCLA Men's Tennis on Twitter.