UCLA
Stanford
Bruins Win Pac-12 Tournament Title
April 24, 2016 | Men's Tennis
OJAI, Calif. – The top-seeded UCLA men's tennis team completed the Pac-12 sweep by defeating third-seeded Cal in the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Championship final on Saturday evening. With the 4-1 win, the regular season conference champions captured the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament Title.
Since the conference moved to a team tournament format in 2012, the Bruins have won titles in three of the five years.
Your 2016 UCLA Bruins are Pac-12 tournament champions! 🏆 #Pac12Ten pic.twitter.com/GkKHaQO22N
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) April 24, 2016
“This win is significant because I didn't expect this team to be as dominant as they have proved themselves to be so far,” said UCLA head coach Billy Martin of the hard-fought win. “These guys have really worked hard and we've had some great chemistry. Today was just typical for our team—we weren't going to be denied. It looked bad for us for a while, but we found a way to come back.”
UCLA (22-2, 7-0 Pac-12) set the tone in doubles play, taking early leads in all three sets. At the top of the lineup, the fifth-ranked duo of Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki led the 11th-ranked pair of Florian Lakat and Filip Bergevi, 4-1. At deuce, McDonald and Redlicki broke the Cal duo. Redlicki drilled a backhand cross court and Bergevi sent it into the net. The Bruin pair then held to win, 6-1.
On court 2, the score was knotted at 4-4, while the Bruins held a 5-3 lead on court 3. The deciding point came from the bottom of the lineup, as Austin Rapp and Maxime Cressy held to clinch doubles for UCLA.
Cressy/Rapp defeat Engsted/Nishimura 6-3 and Bruins take the doubles point over Cal pic.twitter.com/rEwqQBXZzL
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) April 24, 2016
“Our doubles play was so important today,” said Martin of winning the point. “It's hard enough to win three singles, much less four against a really good team like Cal. The doubles point was really big. Mackie and Marty really came out today and stepped up to win at No. 1. Winning doubles gave us some good momentum.”
“After yesterday, we knew we had to bring something special in order to win the tournament title,” said McDonald of the Bruins' improved performance in doubles play. “We brought a lot of intensity, and Marty and I stepped up like we needed to in order to get the win.”
Cal rebounded in singles play, taking four of six first sets. Redlicki and Karue Sell were the only Bruins to lead throughout the first set. On court 2, No. 42 Redlicki cruised past No. 28 Andre Goransson, 6-2, while No. 92 Sell downed Bergevi, 6-3, on court 4. On the remaining four courts, the Golden Bears outpaced their Bruin foes.
At the top of the lineup, tenth-ranked McDonald saved three break points to even the first set at 1-1. No. 27 Lakat then jumped out to a comfortable 4-2 lead and had the opportunity to extend, but McDonald broke him to cut the deficit to one. The opponents traded breaks and then McDonald held to knot it at 5-5. Lakat went on to win two straight to take the set, 7-5.
“I started off really far back and I had a lot of unforced errors,” said McDonald of struggling to find his rhythm early in the first set. “I tried to stay closer to the net and make more balls, so that helped me later on.”
Redlicki finished first in singles, extending UCLA's lead to 2-0. For the second time this season, the Bruin sophomore upset Goransson in straights. In their regular-season meeting earlier this month, Redlicki dispatched then-No. 17 Goransson, 6-1, 6-3.
Marty! Redlicki takes down Goransson 6-2, 6-3 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead over Cal pic.twitter.com/fKoDe2aFGx
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) April 24, 2016
Cal's Bergevi put the first point on the board for the Golden Bears. After dropping the first set to Sell on court 4, Bergevi won the second to push it to a third. Unable to keep pace with his Cal opponent, Sell dropped the final set, 6-4.
The Bruins led the Bears, 2-1, with four matches still playing. Of those matches, three of the second sets were won in the tiebreaker.
After dropping the first set at the bottom of the lineup, Joseph Di Giulio battled back from a 4-0 deficit in the tiebreaker to win, 7-6(6). Di Giulio carried this momentum into the third set, jumping out to an early 5-3 lead. At deuce, the Bruin broke J.T. Nishimura to inch UCLA closer to victory.
Seconds later, McDonald delivered the knockout punch on court 1. The Bruin junior held to defeat Lakat in three sets and clinch the match for the Bruins.
“The energy was really key for me toward the end of my match,” said McDonald of the atmosphere on the courts. “I was really happy that my teammates were right there by my side. They really helped me through that long three setter.”
“We were resilient today,” said Martin of the team's performance. “And it wasn't just one or two guys—it was three or four guys that really hung in there to keep us in the match. That helps everybody because it keeps everyone's momentum going, and you start believing in the team more when you see the other guys fighting back. I really give credit to the entire team.”
#2 UCLA 4, #16 California 1
Apr 23, 2016 at Ojai, Calif. (Libbey Park)
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #5 McDonald/Redlicki (UCLA) def. #11 Lakat/Bergevi (CAL) 6-1 |
| 2. Sell/Di Giulio (UCLA) vs. Goransson/Wikberg (CAL) 4-5, unfinished |
| 3. Rapp/Cressy (UCLA) def. Engsted/Nishimura (CAL) 6-3 |
| Singles competition |
| 1. #10 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. #27 Florian Lakat (CAL) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2. #42 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #28 Andre Goransson (CAL) 6-2, 6-3 |
| 3. #55 Gage Brymer (UCLA) vs. #82 Billy Griffith (CAL) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 3-0, unfinished |
| 4. Filip Bergevi (CAL) def. #92 Karue Sell (UCLA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 5. Logan Staggs (UCLA) vs. #122 Oskar Wikberg (CAL) 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 4-2, unfinished |
| 6. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) def. J.T. Nishimura (CAL) 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 |
| Match Notes |
| California 17-6; National ranking #16 |
| UCLA 22-2; National ranking #2 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,4,6,1) |
| Pac-12 Championship Final |
