Goldberg Named Volunteer Assistant Coach for Men's Tennis

LOS ANGELES – Ben Goldberg has been named volunteer assistant coach for UCLA men's tennis after five seasons in the program as a student-athlete, head coach Billy Martin announced Friday.

Goldberg, whose parents and sister are also Bruins, ascended up the singles lineup during his time on the roster. He registered career records of 48-43 in singles play and 33-36 on doubles courts from the 2016 fall campaign through 2021 dual matches. Goldberg helped UCLA to three Pac-12 regular-season championships and one conference tournament title over that time.

"I'm so very excited to have Ben Goldberg coming back as our volunteer assistant coach this year after five great years as a team member," said Martin. "I've known Ben for so long, even before he joined our team. First-class person, there's nobody a bigger, loyal UCLA fan than Ben."

The 2020-21 season saw Goldberg utilize the additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made the most of his extra year, posting a 9-8 singles mark. Among those wins was a 7-6(5), 6-2 triumph over No. 26 Mor Bulis of USC – a career-best showing for Goldberg in terms of opponent ranking. He also logged a 3-0 doubles record.

The shortened 2019-20 season did not lack for dramatic moments involving Goldberg, who was the last man standing in a pair of 4-3 team victories. The first winner-take-all performance came in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend championship match, as Goldberg outlasted No. 104 Bogdan Pavel of UCF, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Goldberg went on to overcome a 5-7, 1-5 deficit against Oregon's Riki Oshima, climbing all the way back to a 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(1) result. Goldberg hit doubles-digit singles wins for the third time in as many seasons, going 11-8.

In 2018-19, the Pacific Palisades, Calif. native got the better of No. 60 William Howells of Notre Dame, No. 74 Logan Smith of USC and No. 80 Rrezart Cungu of Wake Forest for his initial decisions over nationally-ranked counterparts.

Goldberg won the first nine completed singles matches of his dual-match career. As a freshman, He became a consistent piece in the doubles lineup after teaming with Austin Rapp for a 6-4 victory across from Rob Bellamy and Jack Jaede of USC at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Goldberg and Maxime Cressy would go on to pick up five doubles-point-clinching wins, including a 6-4 result over Walker Duncan and Wayne Montgomery of Georgia in the NCAA Championships quarterfinal round.

"The guys like him, he's a student of the game. I think he'll grow as a coach as he takes on this responsibility," added Martin. "I think he'll add a lot to our team and will be another great volunteer assistant coach like we've had in the past."

In the classroom, Goldberg was a six-time member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll after earning a grade-point average of at least 3.0 while passing 12 or more units in each of those corresponding quarters. He majored in political science.