Bjorn Hoffmann

The postseason is when hopes are crushed and dreams come true. No. 33 Cal men’s tennis did a little of both this weekend, as the team beat two higher-ranked teams to reach the Pac-12 championship before falling to No. 8 USC.

Fourth-seeded No. 33 Cal will play fifth seed No. 28 Arizona State in the first round of the nine-team tournament.

The Bears traveled to both matches and lost Friday in Seattle after the match was decided by a single point, but they turned it around the next day to sweep the Ducks, 4-0.

No. 41 Cal traveled to No. 45 Utah and took home a key 4-2 victory against the Utes to rise to 3-2 in conference play.

After four straight home matches, Cal men’s tennis hits the road to play at Utah this weekend before returning home to face UCSB.

On Sunday, March 24, Cal was shorthanded coming into the matches against Nevada and Saint Mary’s, with both Jacob Brumm and Yuta Kikuchi out. Nevertheless, the Bears stepped up and defeated both teams 4-0 with a modified lineup.

The Bears have had moderate success this season but really started showing promise two weeks ago when they began 2-0 in the Pac-12. Since then, they have been 4-0 at home overall.

Cal men’s tennis entered the weekend hoping to continue its hot streak and defend its title from last year, but instead, after only one win, the Bears got shut out — and then lost again to an unranked team to close out its tournament.

This upcoming weekend, Cal will face three more opponents as it travels to the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge presented by Oracle, an eight-team tournament played in Indian Wells, California.

Cal came swinging into the singles, however, as Kikuchi, Paul Barretto, Molloy, Hoffmann and Draper all won their first sets. The second sets started well for the Bears, as many of them took leads, and Hoffmann, Molloy, Draper and Paul Barretto all broke their opponents’ serve.