OJAI, Calif. – Thirty-third-ranked California advanced to Friday's Pac-12 Championship semifinals when Yuta Kikuchi beat Arizona State's Nathan Ponwith to clinch the Golden Bears' 4-1 victory over 28th-ranked Arizona State on Thursday in the Pac-12 Championship quarterfinals. The Cal freshman upset the 74th-ranked Ponwith, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, at court-one singles.
 
Cal – which has now beaten ASU in two out of three matches this season – will play top-seeded and 13th-ranked UCLA in Friday's semis at 1 p.m. at Libbey Park. The Bruins blanked eighth-seeded Utah in Thursday's quarters, 4-0. The Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area will televise the semifinals as well as Saturday's final.
 
The Bears' record improved to 13-11, while ASU fell to 13-13, after Thursday's result.
 
"We played a clean match today from start to finish," said Peter Wright, Cal's Director of Men's Tennis. "ASU is a physical team, but we stuck to our game plan and our process, and we came away with the win. Our guys have been building a solid foundation for this team, and now they're bringing great focus to the postseason."
 
Cal was dominant in doubles, with the 31st-ranked pair of Kikuchi and Jacob Brumm blanking the 12th-ranked Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky, 6-0, on court one, before the duo of Ben Draper and Jack Molloy clinched the point with a 6-1 victory over the 77th-ranked Justin Roberts and Makey Rakotomalala on court three.
 
ASU tied the match at 1-1 when Justin Roberts defeated Cal's Paul Barretto, 6-0, 6-4, at court-three singles.
 
But Cal got wins from Bjorn Hoffmann – 6-3, 6-3 over Rakotomalala on court six – and Jack Molloy – 6-3, 6-4 against Kellovsky on court two – to take a 3-1 lead, until Kikuchi completed the win.
 
Pac-12 Championship Quarterfinals
 
[4] No. 33 California (13-11) defeated [5] No. 28 Arizona State (13-13), 4-1
April 25, 2019, in Ojai, Calif.
Libbey Park
 
Doubles
1. No. 31 Jacob Brumm/Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) def. No. 12 Dominik Kellovsky/Nathan Ponwith (ASU), 6-0,
2. Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Paul Barretto/Can Kaya (Cal), 5-3 DNF
3. Ben Draper/Jack Molloy (Cal) def. No. 77 Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU), 6-1*
 
Cal won the doubles point
Order of Finish – 1, 3
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) def. No. 74 Nathan Ponwith (ASU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3^
2. Jack Molloy (Cal) def. Dominik Kellovsky (ASU), 6-3, 6-4
3. Justin Roberts (ASU) def. Paul Barretto (Cal), 6-0, 6-4
4. Ben Draper (Cal) vs. Tim Ruehl (ASU), 7-6(6), 6-6(5-6) DNF
5. Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Jacob Brumm (Cal), 4-6, 6-1, 4-3 DNF
6. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU), 6-3, 6-3
 
Order of Finish – 3, 6, 2, 1^
^Clinched the overall win