THIS WEEK...
#49 Cal Poly (14-7, 3-0 Big West) at #68 UC Davis (13-4, 1-0 Big West)
Friday, April 10, 2015
2:00 p.m.
Marya Welch Tennis Center (Davis, Calif.)

#65 UC Santa Barbara (10-7, 2-1 Big West) at #68 UC Davis (13-4, 1-0 Big West)
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Noon
Marya Welch Tennis Center (Davis, Calif.)

FIRST SERVE: One of the biggest weekends of the 2015 season lies ahead for the UC Davis men's tennis team (13-4 overall, 1-0 in the Big West Conference), as the No. 68 Aggies host a pair of ranked conference foes at the Marya Welch Tennis Center this weekend. UC Davis welcomes No. 49 Cal Poly to Northern California on Friday (April 10) at 2 p.m., before No. 65 UC Santa Barbara comes to town on Saturday (April 11) at Noon in the final home match of the season.

IN THE RANKINGS: This weekend's matches will feature all three of the Big West teams ranked in the latest ITA national poll released on April 7: No. 49 Cal Poly, No. 65 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 68 UC Davis. The Aggies have faced four other teams this season currently ranked among the nation's best: No. 27 California (L, 4-0); No. 36 Stanford (L, 6-1); No. 55 Rice (W, 4-3); and No. 58 San Francisco (L, 4-3).

GUESS WHO'S BACK?: Did you miss us? UC Davis made its return to the ITA national polls, ranked No. 68 in the nation after being left out of last week's poll, unranked for the first time since the beginning of February. The Aggies debuted with their highest ITA ranking in the program's Division I history back on Feb. 3, entering the national spotlight at No. 72, before making the jump to No. 70 in the nation on Feb. 17 following a three-match sweep of Sacramento State, Saint Mary's and Holy Names. UC Davis continued to climb, posting its highest ranking ever at No. 64 according to the Feb. 25 poll, before dropping six spots to No. 70 on March 3 after a week of inactivity, and No. 71 following a break for final exams.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Cal Poly enters the week with a 14-7 overall record and a 3-0 mark in Big West play, having won five straight duals dating back to a 4-3 loss against Arizona on March 22... Last week, the Mustangs won a trio of Big West matches at home, shutting out Hawai'i (7-0), edging UC Irvine (4-2), and blanking UC Riverside (4-0)... Nationally ranked for the seventh consecutive week, Cal Poly is led by sophomore Ben Donovan is 13-7 overall in duals this season -- all but one of those contests at the No. 1 spot in the lineup -- while teammates sophomore Garrett Auproux (14-6) and senior Naveen Beasley (13-7) have posted double-digit dual wins... The doubles team of Donovan and Corey Pang have compiled a 14-2 mark this season -- including 8-1 dual match record at the No. 1 spot.

ABOUT THE GAUCHOS: UC Santa Barbara enters the weekend with a 10-7 overall record and a 2-1 in Big West play, having won its last four straight contests -- including a pair of league victories against Hawai'i (6-1) and UC Riverside (6-1) -- and seven of its last eight overall... The Gauchos are a perfect 8-0 at home, but just 2-7 in true road contests... Junior Nathan Eshmade leads UCSB with an 11-6 mark in dual match play, having spent time at five different spots in the lineup this season... Senior Tobias Galskov has spent the most time at the No. 1 spot in the lineup, going 4-4 at that position... Sophomore Morgan Mays (10-7), who has won his last seven singles contests, and freshman Cody Rakela (10-7) are also in double-digit wins in duals this season... Mays and junior Andrew Riminton are a combined 9-3 in doubles this season to pace the squad.

SERIES NOTES: According to yearly records that date back to 1996-97 season, the Aggies are 0-13 overall against Cal Poly and 0-11 against UC Santa Barbara, entering the weekend searching for their first Division I win against each program (0-9)... Last season, UC Davis fell to the Gauchos, 5-2, in Santa Barbara, and dropped a close, 4-3, match to the Mustangs in San Luis Obispo, to close out the regular season.

JUST WIN, BABY: The 13 victories for the Aggies this season are just one shy of last season's overall record (14-11) -- one that stands as the program's best Division I performance to date. At 13-4, UC Davis has now posted back-to-back seasons with double-digit wins for the first time since the Aggies accomplished the feat in three straight seasons from 2000-02. Two more wins this season will give UC Davis its highest win total since the 1993 squad finished 15-3.

ON THE LINE: With their win over Northern Colorado back on March 15, the Aggies moved to 6-0 on the courts at the Marya Welch Tennis Center this season, extending their winning streak to seven dating back to a 4-3 loss to Hawai'i on April 1, 2014. UC Davis has won 17 of its last 20 at home after posting an 11-3 record in home matches last spring.

CLOSING FAST: Junior Brett Bachrach is closing in on a pair of records for the Aggies, entering the week with an overall career mark of 52-30 and a 35-20 record in dual matches. The 52 wins overall are just three shy of Kyle Miller, who holds the UC Davis Division I record with 56 singles wins, while the 35 dual match wins for Bacharach are also three back of Miller's Division I record of 38 set from 2011-14. Right behind his teammate is sophomore James Wade, who has already racked up a 49-17 overall mark, and a 30-8 record in duals, in just under two seasons with the Aggies.

CLOSE SHAVES: Thanks to their 4-3 win at Hawai'i back on March 26, the Aggies improved to 4-1 this season in matches decided by a single point, including wins in their last two such contests against the Rainbow Warriors and No. 75 Rice (March 5). It's quite a reversal of fortune for UC Davis, which was 1-5 in matches decided by a single point a year ago.

YOU WIN THIS ROUND, MOTHER NATURE: When rains forced the cancellation of the Aggies' match against Northern Arizona on April 5, it marked the first time since Jan. 22, 2012, that UC Davis has had a match cancelled due to weather as the Aggies and No. 14 California had their contest in Berkeley washed out.

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 28-18 (.609) record in such matches to start the 2014-15 campaign. Sophomore James Wade has led the way, thus far, with a perfect 10-0 mark in three-set contests, while classmate Bryce McKelvie is right behind him with five wins in eight 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: 6-3 (.667)
Brett Bacharach: 5-1 (.833)
Eli Whittle: 4-0 (1.000)
Jesse Ross: 3-2 (.600)
Everett Maltby: 2-2 (.500)
Alec Adamson: 2-5 (.286)
Tommy Lam: 1-3 (.250)
Adam Levie: 0-3 (.000)

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.

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.

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.