Kris Kwinta Leads Cal To The Aloha State

BERKELEY – In his first event with the California men's tennis team, Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis Kris Kwinta will lead the Golden Bears to the Hawaii Invitational this week in Honolulu. The tournament starts Thursday and ends Saturday at the UH Tennis Complex, with players from host Hawaii, Cal and BYU competing in singles and doubles.

Matches will start each day at 10 a.m. HT.
 
Kwinta joined Cal in October after working with the USC program, most recently as the Trojans' associate head coach. Kwinta now presides over a storied Cal program that has made 37 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, produced 36 All-Americans, captured nine NCAA doubles championships and won two NCAA singles titles. The Bears also won the national collegiate title in 1925 as well as ITA National Indoor Championships in 1980 and 1989.
  
The 2014 ITA Southwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Kwinta served as the associate head coach of the Trojans from 2014-15 until departing for Berkeley. In the 2020-21 season, Kwinta helped USC compile a 23-7 dual-match record and reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Kwinta began his USC tenure in 2012-13 under former head coach Peter Smith, served as the interim head coach of the program when Smith retired in July 2019, and remained on staff when current USC head coach Brett Masi was hired as head coach in August 2019.
 
Previously, Kwinta – a former doubles All-American as a Bruin – served as an assistant for four seasons at UCLA under his college coach, Billy Martin. Kwinta was a graduate assistant for the Bruins in 2008 and was named the 2010 ITA Assistant Coach of the Year for the Southwest Region.
 
Poll Position
Cal earned two rankings in the most recent ITA doubles poll, with the pair of Yuta Kikuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck at No. 15 and the duo of Kikuchi and Philip Hjorth at No. 58.
 
Last Time: Bears At ITA Super Regionals & Regionals
Yuta Kikuchi won twice in singles to reach the semifinals of the ITA Northwest Super Regional Championships, with the Cal senior falling to Stanford's 48th-ranked Arthur Fery, 7-5, 7-5, on Oct. 24 in Seattle. Philip Hjorth likewise competed at super regionals, with the senior winning in the first round before dropping a 6-2, 6-1 result to Fery in the round of 16. The two Bears also played in doubles in Seattle. But the Bears, seeded fourth, lost to Gonzaga's Matthew Hollingworth/Sasha Trkulj, 8-3, in the round of 16.
 
Earlier in October at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships at Saint Mary's, Cal freshman Carl Emil Overbeck captured the consolation singles title with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Santa Clara's Ryan Ali. Lucas Magnaudet got to the consolation quarters in singles before falling to the Broncos' Ali, 7-5, 4-6, 10-6. Hjorth, the top seed in Moraga, reached the quarterfinals of the main draw to qualify for super regionals.
 
Next Time
Cal plays at Tulsa on Jan. 15 in its first dual match of the 2021-22 season and then plays at Tulane on Jan. 17 in New Orleans. Kwinta makes his Berkeley debut as the head of the Cal program when the Bears host Saint Mary's on Jan. 22 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.