Oct. 16, 2014 THIS WEEK...
UC Davis at ITA Northwest Regional Championships
Oct. 17-21, 2014
Taube Family Tennis Stadium
Stanford, Calif.
Game Coverage: Live Video | Draws & Results
DAVIS, Calif. -- All of the lessons learned through the first two weeks of the fall schedule will be put into practice this weekend, as the UC Davis men's tennis teams faces, perhaps, its stiffest test of the young 2014-15 season, heading to the Bay Area to compete in the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships hosted by Stanford University.
The event begins at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on Friday (Oct. 17) and runs through the championship matches on Tuesday (Oct. 21). Competitors from 13 other schools (California, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon, Pacific, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Washington) will compete alongside the Aggies and host Cardinal as play begins with the first two rounds of singles and the first round of doubles on Friday.
"We have had some success this fall and it should give the players confidence that they can make an impact on the toughest draw of the fall term," Head Coach Eric Steidlmayer said.
On the line this weekend? The singles and doubles champions from each of the 12 regions advance to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Nov. 6-9 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
A live video stream for the event will be available for all five days. Visit the men's tennis schedule page at GoStanford.com to access the links.
It's been a championship kind of fall thus far for the Aggies, who have claimed three main draw titles, three more consolation crowns, and reached a combined 11 championship matches -- including the main draw doubles title match at the prestigious Battle in the Bay tournament last weekend in San Francisco.
Youth has been served in those title-clinching contests as sophomores Bryce McKelvie and James Wade, along with freshman Everett Maltby, have won a pair of titles apiece, with junior Brett Bacharach, sophomore Jesse Ross, and freshman Tommy Lam also coming through with victories.
"The depth of the team should help propel all of our players forward," Steidlmayer said. "We know we have nine good players, and expect all of them to be impact guys for us at some point in the season. Certainly it makes our practices a bit stronger, and should help a lot if we have any injuries along the way. Really, the key is for each guy to improve, and help his teammates do the same. If they do that, then all of the guys are going to be helping our program improve."
The Aggies split their squad last weekend, with the majority of the squad heading to sunny Santa Barbara for the UCSB Classic while sophomore Alec Adamson and junior Adam Levie stayed somewhat local as late adds to the Battle in the Bay field at the California Tennis Club.
Featuring players from some of the nation's top Division I programs, Adamson won his first round match over USC's Rob Bellamy before falling to last year's tournament champion in California's Andre Goransson in a marathon three-set clash. Levie battled Stanford's Yale Goldberg to a decisive third set before falling, but it was in doubles that the Aggie duo made their mark.
The tandem stormed through the main draw doubles bracket, posting wins over a team from UCLA, the No. 4 seed from California, and the Pacific duo that had upset the tournament's second-seeded pairing from the University of San Francisco in the quarterfinals. Their run came to an end, however, in the finals against the team of Nick Crystal and Connor Farren from USC by the score of 8-6, rebounding after a slow start to put themselves into a position to force a tiebreaker, but the Trojan tandem was too strong.
"Both Alec and Adam were excited to play the Battle of the Bay, were treated really well there, and enjoyed competing against some of the nation's best," Steidlmayer said. "They played well, and realized that, if they take care of what they can do and bring a high level, they can definitely compete against and defeat a lot of players."
Meanwhile, in Santa Barbara, Maltby claimed the Flight C main draw singles title after teaming up with Bacharach for the Flight A doubles consolation crown, while the doubles teams of McKelvie and Wade, along with Ross and Lam, claimed crowns in the Flight B consolation and Flight C main draw brackets, respectively.
"Bryce and Everett have both started really strong in our fall tournaments," Steidlmayer said. "They have confidence in their own abilities, work really hard in their matches both physically and mentally, and have been able to bring a consistent level of play in both events.
"Both guys have really improved over the last year in a lot of ways. Both have really improved their physicality, serves and returns, and have a better knowledge of their own games. The good part with these two is that there is still a lot of room for more improvement over the course of the next few months to years. We have high expectations for these guys as we think they have a lot of ability."
Doubles has been a strong suit for the Aggies thus far in the fall, winning nearly 70 percent of their contests paced by Adamson and Levie's 4-1 mark and an unbeaten 3-0 record from Ross and Lam.
USTA/ITA NORTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Taube Family Tennis Center - Stanford, Calif.
Opening Day Schedule
SINGLES
James Wade (UCD) vs. Jeffrey Hawke (UW), 10 a.m.
Brett Bacharach (UCD) vs. Niranjan Ram (SAC), 10 a.m.
Tommy Lam (UCD) vs. Nils Skajaa (USF), 10 a.m.
Everett Maltby (UCD) vs. Joey Swaysland (ORE), 10 a.m.
Bryce McKelvie (UCD) vs. Daniel Sardu (ORE), 10 a.m.
Adam Levie (UCD) vs. (17) Nicholas Kamisar (GON), 11 a.m.
(17) Alec Adamson (UCD) vs. Yale Goldberg (STAN), 11:30 a.m.
Jesse Ross (UCD) vs. (17) Hasier Pastor (CAL), 12:30 p.m.
DOUBLES
(5) Alec Adamson/Adam Levie (UCD) - First Round Bye
Tommy Lam/James Wade (UCD) vs. Sergio Chip/Vicente Varas (GON), 8:30 a.m.
Everett Maltby/Bryce McKelvie (UCD) vs. Matthew Pronesti/Stuart Tierney (PSU), 8:30 a.m.
Brett Bacharach/Jesse Ross (UCD) vs. Lance Ngo/Eric Spence (PAC), 9:15 a.m.
