THIS WEEK...
No. 57 UC Davis (16-5, 4-1) at Big West Conference Tournament
Thursday-Sunday, April 23-26, 2015
Indian Wells Tennis Garden (Indian Wells, Calif.)

Tournament Schedule
Thursday, April 23, 2015
#4 Cal Poly vs. #5 UC Riverside, 9 a.m.
#3 UC Santa Barbara vs. #6 Hawai'i, 9 a.m.

Friday, April 24, 2015
#1 UC Irvine vs. Cal Poly/UC Riverside, 3 p.m.
#2 UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara/Hawai'i, 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 26, 2015
Championship Match, 9 a.m.

FIRST SERVE: After claiming a share of its first Big West Conference title in school history, the No. 57 UC Davis men's tennis team heads to Indian Wells, Calif., as the No. 2-seeded team at the 2015 Big West Tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. By virtue of their top-two seed, the Aggies gain a first-round bye and will face the winner of the No. 3 UC Santa Barbara-No. 6 Hawai'i match in the semifinals on Friday (April 24) at 3 p.m.

IN THE RANKINGS: UC Davis finished the regular season ranked No. 57 in the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's poll released on April 21 -- standing behind only No. 54 Cal Poly among ranked Big West squads. UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 62 while UC Irvine jumps into this week's poll at No. 73.

UC DAVIS RANKINGS HISTORY: The Aggies made their debut in the Division I national poll back on Jan. 29, 2008, spending one week tied with four other schools (Brown, College of Charleston, Harvard, and San Diego) at No. 75. UC Davis wouldn't reenter the polls until more than seven years later, debuting this season at No. 72 in the Feb. 3, 2015, ITA poll, and the Aggies have been ranked in every week but one since then.

UC Davis in the 2015 ITA NCAA Division I rankings...
Preseason - Not Ranked
Jan. 6 - Not Ranked
Jan. 20 - Not Ranked
Jan. 28 - Not Ranked
Feb. 3 - No. 72
Feb. 10 - No rankings released
Feb. 17 - No. 70
Feb. 24 - No. 64
March 3 - No. 70
March 10 - No. 68
March 17 - No. 68
March 24 - No. 71
March 31 - Not Ranked
April 7 - No. 68
April 14 - No. 53
April 21 - No. 57

POSSIBLE SEMIFINAL OPPONENTS...
ABOUT THE GAUCHOS: UC Santa Barbara enters the tournament with a 12-9 overall record and a 3-2 mark in Big West play, tying with Cal Poly for third place in the standings, but earning the No. 3 seed by virtue of its 6-1 head-to-head win over the Mustangs in their last match of the regular season... The Gauchos won nine of their final 12, including a season-best four-match winning streak from March 28-April 5... UCSB is ranked No. 62 in the nation, earning a spot in the ITA's top 75 for the fifth consecutive week... The Gauchos, who were a perfect 9-0 at home, are just 3-9 away from Santa Barbara this season, but have split their last six road contests after opening 0-6... Sophomore Teague Hamilton leads the team with a 20-12 overall record and is one of three UCSB players with a 13-8 mark in dual match play, splitting time at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots in the lineup... Senior Tobias Galskov is 15-12 overall and 5-8 in duals, posting an even 5-5 mark at the No. 1 position... In doubles, the teams of Nathan Eshmade-Erik Johnson and Morgan Mays-Andrew Riminton have posted double-digit wins in duals, finishing with 10-4 and 11-4 marks, respectively.

ABOUT THE RAINBOW WARRIORS: Coming off a runner-up finish at last year's Big West Tournament, Hawai'i enters the event as the No. 6 seed, posting a 6-13 overall record and an 0-5 mark against conference opposition... The Rainbow Warriors, who won the conference's regular season title in 2014, enter this weekend's event on a seven-match losing streak dating back to a 4-3 win over Cleveland State at home on March 8... Hawai'i is a combined 2-11 away from the islands this season, posting a 1-8 mark on the road and a 1-3 record in neutral site matches... Senior Nils Schuhmann is 6-8 in duals atop the singles ladder, sharing the team lead in dual match wins with freshman Felix Albert, who is 7-7 overall and 6-5 in dual match play... In doubles, the tandem of Albert and Chas Okamoto is 7-4 in duals (7-7 overall), splitting time at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

SERIES NOTES: According to records dating back to the 1996-97 season, UC Davis is a combined 1-11 all-time against UC Santa Barbara (1-9 in the Division I era), defeating the Gauchos for the first time by the score of 4-3 at home on April 11... In that same span, UC Davis is 1-6 all-time against Hawai'i (1-4 in the Division I era), posting its first win earlier this year with a 4-3 Big West Conference-opening victory in Honolulu on March 26.

ON THE FLIP SIDE: Should UC Davis win its semifinal match on Friday, the Aggies would advance to the championship on Sunday against the other half of the bracket that features an opening round contest with No. 4 Cal Poly against No. 5 UC Riverside on Thursday for the right to face off against top-seeded UC Irvine in the semifinals on Friday.

AGGIES IN THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT: Entering this weekend's event with its highest seeding since joining the league in 2007-08, UC Davis is a combined 2-7 in Big West Tournament play, winning first-round contests in two of its previous three seasons against Pacific in 2012 and UC Irvine in 2014... This season marks the third time that the Aggies will play in the semifinals, but the first time that they will have earned a bye to that round by virtue of their top-two seed... Against the current conference men's tennis alignment, UC Davis is 0-2 against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, 1-0 against UC Irvine, and 0-1 against Hawai'i... The Aggies are also 2-1 against former league member Pacific... A top-two seed has won the tournament in 15 of the event's 21 seasons dating back to 1994, with UC Santa Barbara as the No. 5 seed becoming the lowest-seeded team to win the event back in 2013.

UC Davis at the Big West Conference Tournament...
2008 (0-1): #4 Cal Poly 4, #5 UC Davis 0
2009 (0-1): #4 UC Santa Barbara 4, #5 UC Davis 0
2010 (0-1): #4 UC Santa Barbara 4, #5 UC Davis 0
2011 (0-1): #3 Pacific 4, #6 UC Davis 0
2012 (1-1): #5 UC Davis 4, #4 Pacific 1; #1 Cal Poly 4, UC Davis 0
2013 (0-1): #3 Pacific 4, #6 UC Davis 2
2014 (1-1): #4 UC Davis 4, #5 UC Irvine 0; #1 Hawai'i 4, UC Davis 3

#RAISETHECUP: For the first time in school history, the UC Davis men's tennis team clinched a share of the Big West Conference regular season championship with its win over UC Riverside on April 18. The Aggies became the fourth different school in the last four years to share, or win outright, the league's regular season title, joining Cal Poly (2012), Cal Poly and UC Irvine (2013), and Hawai'i (2014).

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Among a number of "firsts" for the Aggies this season, include a trio of first-time wins against opponents ending, in some cases, long stretches of futility. According to records that date back to the 1996-97 season, among those first-time "victims" are all Big West opponents in Cal Poly (previously 0-13), Hawai'i (previously 0-6), and UC Santa Barbara (previously 0-11).

A SEASON TO REMEMBER: With victories still to be had at this weekend's conference tournament, UC Davis is already in the midst of one of the finest tennis seasons in the history of the program. The 16 victories by the Aggies surpassed their total from all of last year, are tied for the fourth-most wins on the Big West single-season list, represent a school Division I record for wins in a season, and are the most for a UC Davis squad since the 1992 team finished 16-3 en route to the NCAA Division II National Championship. In addition, the four Big West wins are the most in the history of the program after the Aggies had not won more than two conference matches (in 2010 and 2014) in a single-season in its previous seven years of league membership.

HOME, SWEET HOME: UC Davis closed out its home schedule with victories over Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara on April 10-11, completing a perfect season at home for the Aggies, who finished 8-0 at the Marya Welch Tennis Center. They will carry a nine-match home winning streak into next season's schedule, having not lost a home contest since a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Hawai'i on April 1, 2014, winning 19 of their last 22 following an 11-3 record last season.

IT'S LIKE SWITZERLAND, ONLY WARMER: A pair of matches on neutral courts could await the Aggies this weekend in Indian Wells as they look to improve on an unbeaten 3-0 neutral site mark this season that has seen them post wins over Grand Canyon (Jan. 24 in Los Angeles), No. 75 Rice (March 5 in La Jolla), and Villanova (March 8 in La Jolla). UC Davis is 9-2 on neutral courts over the last three seasons under head coach Eric Steidlmayer.

MAKING THEIR "POINT" EARLY: Clinch the doubles point and good things happen for UC Davis. The Aggies have laid claim to the doubles point 13 times in 21 matches this season and are a perfect 13-0 in those contests in 2015, compared to a 3-5 mark when they lose that opening point. Since last year, UC Davis has won its last 21 consecutive matches when clinching the opening point of the match dating back to a 5-2 loss at Fresno State on March 8, 2014. The last time the Aggies lost the doubles point and won? March 26 of this season at Hawai'i as the Rainbow Warriors posted wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles before UC Davis rallied for four singles wins to take the match, 4-3.

BIG WEST'S BEST: Freshman Everett Maltby (24-8) and sophomore James Wade (24-10) enter the tournament leading the Big West Conference with their 24 overall wins this season, while sophomore Bryce McKelvie, who is sixth in the league with a 21-11 record, gives the Aggies three of the league's eight 20-match winners this season, joining UC Irvine's quartet of Sebastian Heim (23-8), Tyler Pham (22-13), Nico Mertens (22-14), and Jonathan Hammel (20-15), as well as UC Santa Barbara's Teague Hamilton (20-12). Wade (14-5) and Maltby (13-5) also rank among the conference's top 10 in dual match wins, tied for sixth and eighth, respectively.

HE... COULD... GO... ALL... THE... WAY: The Aggies have continued a rather successful trend that saw them post a 44-28 (.611) record in three-set singles contests last season, posting a 38-24 (.613) record in such matches during the 2014-15 campaign. Sophomore James Wade has led the way, thus far, with an almost perfect 10-1 mark in three-set contests, while classmate Bryce McKelvie is right behind him with six wins in nine chances. Last season, junior Brett Bacharach led all UC Davis players with 14 trips to a decisive third set, finishing with a team-high nine victories.

2014-15 Aggies in Three Sets (sorted by wins):
James Wade: 10-1 (.909)
Bryce McKelvie: 6-4 (.600)
Eli Whittle: 5-1 (.833)
Brett Bacharach: 5-2 (.714)
Everett Maltby: 5-2 (.714)
Jesse Ross: 4-2 (.667)
Alec Adamson: 2-6 (.250)
Tommy Lam: 1-3 (.250)
Adam Levie: 0-3 (.000)

RECYCLED NOTES
ADAMSON NAMED BIG WEST SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: A member of the Dean's List and a recipient of the John Wooden Scholarship, UC Davis sophomore Alec Adamson was named the Big West Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year from UC Davis. Celebrated at an awards breakfast on Thursday morning (March 12) in conjunction with the conference men's and women's basketball tournaments in Anaheim, Adamson and women's golfer Andrea Wong were honored for their contributions on the court/course as well as their success in the classroom. Read the entire release online at http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/031215aaa.html.

MALTBY NAMED BIG WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: For the third time this season, a UC Davis men's tennis player has earned athlete of the week honors from the Big West Conference, taking home a pair of three-set victories to help lift the Aggies to upset wins over nationally ranked Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara last week. It is the first career honor for Maltby, who joins James Wade (Jan. 21) and Brett Bacharach (Feb. 25) as UC Davis honorees this season. Maltby opened the weekend by defeating Cal Poly's Naveen Beasley, bouncing back from a second-set loss to outlast the Mustang senior, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. A day later, Matlby topped UCSB's Erik Johnsson, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, to clinch UC Davis' 4-3 win over the Gauchos. For a complete recap of his week, read the complete release online at http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/041515aaa.html.

BACHARACH NAMED BIG WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Junior Brett Bacharach was named the Big West men's tennis athlete of the week back on Feb. 25, earning the first award of his career and becoming the second Aggie honoree this season, joining teammate James Wade (Jan. 21). Bacharach won both his singles contests against San Francisco and Nevada to extend his winning streak to five straight and improve to 6-2 in duals this year. For a complete recap, read the release online at http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/022515aab.html.

WADE SHARES FIRST BIG WEST WEEKLY HONOR OF 2015: A stellar start to the spring season has earned UC Davis sophomore James Wade a share of Big West Conference Player of the Week honors, the league office announced on Jan. 21. It is the second career weekly honor for the San Marino, California, native after earning his first on Feb. 19 of last season. He shares this week's honor with UC Irvine's Sebastian Heim. For a complete recap of Wade's award-winning week, read the complete release at: http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/012115aaa.html.