THIS WEEK…
Villanova (4-4) vs. UC Davis (9-3)
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Northview Tennis Courts (La Jolla, Calif.)
1:30 p.m.

UC Davis at 127th Annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships
Thursday March 3 - Sunday, March 6, 2016
La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club (La Jolla, Calif.)
All Day
Complete Draws: http://m.tennislink.usta.com/TournamentHome/tournament.aspx?t=170901

FIRST SERVE: Following a lengthy lay-off, the UC Davis men's tennis team makes its return to the courts this week, taking on Villanova in a dual at the Northview Tennis Courts on the campus of UC San Diego and participating in the 127th Annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships held at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. The Aggies and Wildcats meet on Thursday (March 3) at 1:30 p.m., before opening tournament play on Friday (March 4) at 8 a.m.

IN THE RANKINGS: Having not played since a 6-1 victory over Sacramento State on Valentine's Day, UC Davis fell completely out of the latest Oracle/ITA Division I rankings released on March 1. Prior to that, the Aggies had achieved their highest-ever national ranking as a Division I program, ranked No. 49 in the nation on Feb. 23 -- an improvement of nine spots over their previous week's standing. To that point, UC Davis had played five ranked schools at the time of the match and faced four schools among the top 75 that week, and have seven schools that they have -- or will -- faced among the top 75 as of March 1. Junior Alec Adamson continues to stand at No. 61 in the nation in singles as of the last individual rankings released on Feb. 23.

ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT: Featuring some of the nation's top collegiate doubles teams, as well as a strong field of independent tandems, the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships is the second oldest tennis event in the United States and were first held in 1890 at The Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, Calif., created to promote the sale of real estate on the Monterey peninsula.

The original concept for the event was to pit the best players from the East against those from the West and served as the inspiration for the present day Davis Cup. Past winners of the event include such luminaries as Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Bobby Riggs, Pancho Segura, Don Budge, Tony Trabert, Stan Smith, Bob Lutz, Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, and John McEnroe, among many other world-class champions. The event moved to the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in 1943.

The field features top collegiate tennis players from across the country, as well as a field of independent competitors which include teaching professionals, top junior players, college coaches, and former tour players.

Among those schools competing alongside the Aggies in this year's event (including team rankings from the March 1 Oracle/ITA Division I polls): No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 69 UC Irvine, No. 14 Baylor, Bryant, No. 71 Boise State, Villanova, Georgetown, No. 37 Stanford, UC San Diego (No. 16 in the Division II poll), Boston College, No. 6 UCLA, Furman, San Diego State, UNLV, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 12 USC, No. 29 Rice, No. 18 California, Pepperdine, and No. 31 San Diego.

AGGIES OPENING ROUND SCHEDULE: The following are the opening round match-ups for UC Davis teams at this weekend's tournament:

Friday, March 4, 2016
(12) Alec Adamson / Adam Levie (UCD) vs. Adrian Cordova/Kona Luu, 8:00 a.m.
Tommy Lam / Jesse Ross (UCD) vs. Rodrigo Amaral/Justin Zhang (UCSD), 8:45 a.m.
Brett Bacharach / Bryce McKelvie (UCD) vs. (3) Thomas Fawcett/Maciek Romanwicz (STAN), 9:30 a.m.
(15) Michael Meyer / Eric Steidlmayer vs. Marco Lam/Mac Rechan (Georgetown), 10:15 a.m.
James Wade / Eli Whittle (UCD) vs. Anthony Tsodikov/Brandon Sutter (STAN), 11:00 a.m.

AHOY, LA JOLLA!: UC Davis will be competing at the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships for the fourth straight year since head coach Eric Steidlmayer took over the program in 2012. An Aggie team has advanced to at least the round of 32 in each of the past three seasons, including an appearance in the main draw semifinals by Brett Bacharach and Bryce McKelvie last year before the tandem fell to the eventual tournament champions. Adam Levie and Toki Sherbakov reached the round of 16 in 2013 and was followed by Levie and Alec Adamson advancing to the round of 32 in 2014 before falling to the tournament's No. 1 seed. Last season, Sherbakov and assistant coach Michael Meyer reached the semifinals of the consolation bracket before falling.

ABOUT VILLANOVA: The Wildcats enter the week with a 4-4 overall record with a match scheduled against UC San Diego on Thursday (March 3) before taking on UC Davis… Villanova posted an 8-1 win over Concordia (Calif.) on Monday after falling to UC Riverside (6-1) on Sunday to kick off its trip to Southern California… The Wildcats are a young bunch, featuring just four upperclassmen on their 11-man roster… Senior Chris Seitz is the leading returner for Villanova, finishing 12-9 in singles play a season ago -- including an 11-7 mark at No. 2 singles -- and a 14-4 record at No. 2 doubles with teammate Bradley Noyes.

SERIES NOTES: The Aggies have posted three straight shutouts in the series with Villanova, with all three of the previous meetings occurring prior to the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships. UC Davis has won seven of the eight doubles matches (a ninth went unfinished) and has dropped only three of a possible 39 sets to the Wildcats in those three meetings.

START ME UP: The Aggies have matched their best start in the program's Division I history at 9-3 entering the week, thanks, in part, to a school record-tying six-match winning streak heading into Thursday's dual against Villanova. Two of its three losses have come against ranked competition (then-No. 18 Stanford and then-No. 8 USC), while a third came against a team (Abilene Christian) that eventually broke into the Oracle/ITA Division I rankings a week after the two programs met in Colorado Springs, Colo.

OH, YES, THEY CALL IT A STREAK: The Aggies' six-straight dual victories matches the program's Division I record set on March 9-25, 2014, matched on Jan. 23-Feb. 16, 2015, and later tied on Feb. 22-March 26, 2015.

BRYCE YOURSELVES…: Wins are coming. With his straight-set win at No. 4 against Uli Vollath of Sacramento State, McKelvie improved to a team-best 19-5 overall in singles play and 10-1 in dual matches this season, winning his last 10 consecutive matches dating back to a loss to then-No. 83 Jake DeVine of USC on Jan. 22. Eight of his 10 wins during his winning streak have come in straight sets.

ADAMSON ADDS TO HIS STREAK: Entering the year with a No. 38 national ranking, junior Alec Adamson has had a target affixed to his back, getting the best from the best the opposing team has had to offer all season. After a rough start to the year that featured matches against a pair of top-50 foes, the Corona del Mar, Calif., native has rebounded to win his last five straight in singles -- including a pair in three sets -- to improve to 5-6 in duals and 14-11 overall to stand second on the team in wins.

TOMMY BOY: "Holy schnikes," the sophomore is on a roll. Rebounding to defeat the Hornets' Christopher Clayton in three sets in his last outing, Tommy Lam improved to 6-0 in dual match singles this season at three different spots in the Aggies' lineup -- after playing just one such singles contest during his entire freshman season -- and 11-6 overall in singles play. His has won his last six straight singles competitions and is 7-3 in his last 10 overall dating back to the fall season.

DOUBLING UP: UC Davis has laid claim to the doubles point in each of its last five contests, and in eight of its 12 matches overall, this season. Sophomore Tommy Lam leads the team with a 15-4 mark in doubles overall -- one of six Aggies with double-digit doubles wins -- while Alec Adamson, Brett Bacharach, and Adam Levie, have all picked up six doubles wins in dual match play to pace the squad. Adamson and Levie are 6-4 as UC Davis' No. 1 doubles tandem, while Bacharach is 6-2 at the No. 2 spot with four different partners.

LET'S PLAY THREE: After posting a win in better than 60 percent of their three-set matches a season ago, the Aggies picked up right where they left off this year, going a combined 28-20 (.583) in such contests. No one has gone to a decisive third set more than Alec Adamson has this year, who has played 10 three-set matches and finishing 6-4 thus far, while Brett Bacharach (4-0), Tommy Lam (4-0), Bryce McKelvie (3-0), and Everett Maltby (2-0), are all unbeaten.

2015-16 Aggies in three sets…
Alec Adamson: 6-4
Brett Bacharach: 4-0
Tommy Lam: 4-0
Adam Levie: 2-1
Everett Maltby: 2-0
Bryce McKelvie: 3-0
Jesse Ross: 4-5
James Wade: 1-5
Eli Whittle: 2-5

RECYCLED NOTES
AGGIES INK TWO DURING EARLY PERIOD: Southern California native David Goulak and local standout Mitchell Iwahiro have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers with the UC Davis men's tennis team, Head Coach Eric Steidlmayer announced on Nov. 17. The duo are the first to sign with the Aggies since December of 2013 thanks to a roster that did not lose a player from last year's campaign and features only two seniors for the 2015-16 season. Goulak (Oak Park, Calif. / Oak Park HS) is a five-star recruit and Iwahiro (Granite Bay, Calif. / Independence HS) is a four-star recruit according to the website TennisRecruiting.net. The complete release is available online at http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/111715aae.html.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE AGGIES: UC Davis finished off its most successful Division I season to date in 2015, ending the year ranked No. 58 in the nation according to the final ITA poll following a 16-6 mark in the regular season and a share of the program's first-ever Big West Conference title. The Aggies set a school record for wins at the Division I level and posted the most victories for the program since the 1992 squad finished 16-3 en route to the NCAA Division II national title. In addition, Head Coach Eric Steidlmayer was named the conference's coach of the year and had seven of his student-athletes each all-conference honors at the end of the season: Sophomore's Alec Adamson and James Wade were named first-team singles, while Adamson and Adam Levie (second team), Brett Bacharach and Bryce McKelvie (second team), and Tommy Lam and Wade (honorable mention), earned honors in doubles.

HEY, WE KNOW YOU!: If you thought the Aggies' roster for the 2015-16 season looked a bit familiar, you wouldn't be wrong. UC Davis returns every member of last season's record-setting championship-winning squad and, yet, still features just two seniors (Brett Bacharach and Levie) for this year's campaign.

DUO FALLS SHY OF FLUSHING: After rolling to a victory in a sectional qualifying tournament in June, the UC Davis tandem of senior Brett Bacharach and assistant coach Michael Meyer fell just short in their quest for a berth in this year's U.S. Open, losing a three-set heartbreaker in their opener at the U.S. Open Men's Doubles National Playoffs in New Haven, Conn., on Aug. 25. After splitting the first two sets -- including a 7-6 (3) defeat in the second -- Bacharach and Meyer held match point at 9-8 in the third, but could not hold off the duo of Ace Matias and Denys Pume, who claimed the next three points to advance.

COACH STEIDLMAYER: Entering his fourth season at the helm of the Aggies, Eric Steidlmayer has marshaled a steady improvement in the win column for the Aggies over the last three seasons, posting a combined 38-30 (.559) record and a 7-9 mark in Big West Conference play -- including last year's 4-1 league record en route to a share of the conference title. The 2015 Big West Coach of the Year, Steidlmayer has steadily improved the Aggies in each of his campaigns, taking the reins and guiding his team to an 8-13 mark in his debut (an improvement of three wins from the previous season) and following that up with a 14-win season in 2014 before blowing the doors off the record books with a 16-6 mark in 2015. In his three seasons, he has coached five players to a total of eight All-Big West singles honors and six doubles teams to seven all-conference doubles awards.

Steidlmayer, who was an assistant coach at UC Davis for two seasons from 1997-98 while receiving his master's degree in economics, joined the Aggies in July of 2012 after posting a 182-108 overall record in 14 years as a head coach at UC San Diego, coaching five All-America selections and leading the Tritons to 12 consecutive NCAA Division II postseason appearances, including a national semifinal appearance in 2007 and a 20-0 record during the 2011 regular season.