No. 32 Cal Beats Purdue To Win Fifth Straight
BERKELEY – The 32nd-ranked Cal men's tennis team won its fifth consecutive match and Yuta Kikuchi clinched his third-consecutive Golden Bear victory in the 5-2 result over Purdue on Wednesday night at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
The Bears improved their record to 8-3 with the nonconference win, while the Boilermakers fell to 7-7.
"I'm happy we won five in a row," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis. "We competed hard. We made some good adjustments in doubles. Overall I'm happy with the changes and buying into an aggressive style of play and putting pressure on the opponents."
Kikuchi defeated Athell Bennett at court-one singles, 6-4, 6-4, to secure the win. The Cal senior also teamed with freshman Carl Emil Overbeck to clinch the doubles point, with the 17th-ranked pair beating Purdue's Michal Wozniak and Piotr Galus, 6-3, on court one. Kikuchi trailed 3-0 in both singles and doubles before rallying to win.
"Both times the opponents played pretty well," Kikuchi said. "It was a great comeback mentally, physically and energy-wise. We did a pretty good job."
Cal next hosts Yale on Saturday and Cal Poly on Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
No. 32 California (8-3) defeated Purdue (7-7), 5-2
March 16, 2022, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. No. 17 Yuta Kikuchi/Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) def. Michal Wozniak/Piotr Galus (Purdue), 6-3
2. Sean Hill/Lucas Magnaudet (Cal) def. Gabriele Brancatelli/Athell Bennett (Purdue), 7-5
3. Derrick Chen/Philip Hjorth (Cal) def. Milledge Cossu/Tomasz Dudek (Purdue), 6-2
Order of Finish – 3, 1*, 2
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 91 Yuta Kikuchi (Cal) def. Athell Bennett (Purdue), 6-4, 6-4^
2. Gabriele Brancatelli (Purdue) def. Philip Hjorth (Cal), 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7)
3. Sean Hill (Cal) def. Tomasz Dudek (Purdue), 6-1, 6-2
4. Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) def. Rohan Sachdev (Purdue), 6-4, 6-3
5. Derrick Chen (Cal) def. Michal Wozniak (Purdue), 6-4, 6-4
6. Piotr Galus (Purdue) def. Lucas Magnaudet (Cal), 7-5, 6-0
Order of Finish – 3, 4, 6, 1^, 5, 2
^Clinched the overall match