BERKELEY - Eighth-seeded and eighth-ranked California moves on to the NCAA Championships' round of 16 for the seventh straight year to take on ninth-seeded and ninth-ranked Alabama on 7 a.m. PT/9 a.m. CT on Friday, May 17 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Urbana, Ill. The Golden Bears have advanced this far in the NCAA tournament 13 times, while Alabama is making its first appearance in the round of 16. The University of Illinois is the host of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships, both of which begin this week at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.

 

This marks just the second meeting between Cal and Alabama; the Bears won the first match, 8-1, on March 15, 1989, in Berkeley.

 

The Bears bring an 18-5 record to Urbana, where they will face their second consecutive SEC opponent. Cal shut out Stony Brook in the first round, 4-0, and Auburn in the second round, 4-0, at home at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Alabama has a 21-5 record, after likewise blanking each of its opponents in the first (Northwestern State) and second (Memphis) rounds, 4-0, at home in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

 

NCAA Championships in Urbana, Ill.

Fans can follow the NCAA Championships via live stats and via Twitter - @CalWomens Tennis and @NCAATennis2013.

 

Ticket information is located on this site: http://ev11.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=TEN&linkID=illinois&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=

 

For more information about the NCAA Championships at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex, please visit the tournament's official website.

 

Scouting the Golden Bears

• In the 2012 NCAA singles tournament, Cal's then-freshman Zsofi Susanyi eliminated current Alabama junior Mary Anne Macfarlane in the round of 32, 6-0, 7-5, in her run the NCAA semifinals

• The current Bears boast the following nationally ranking: No. 5 sophomore Zsofi Susanyi, No. 8 junior Anett Schutting, No. 43 freshman Klara Fabikova and No. 70 freshman Lynn Chi singles and the teams Chi/Schutting (No. 33) and of Fabikova/Susanyi (No. 43) in doubles

• The fifth-seeded Susanyi, eighth-seeded Schutting and Fabikova earned invitations to compete in the NCAA singles championships slated for May 22-27 in Urbana

• The 33rd-ranked duo of Chi and Schutting is an alternate for the May 22-27 NCAA doubles championships

• Cal has won eight straight dual matches heading into the round of 16

• The Bears finished second in the Pac-12 Conference this year

• Schutting earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on March 26

• Cal is one of 14 schools with both its men's and women's tennis teams ranked in the May 2 ITA poll; the Cal men are ranked 18th

• Former NCAA doubles champion Amanda Augustus is in her sixth year as head coach at her alma mater; the 1999 Cal graduate won her national doubles titles in 1998 and 1999

 

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Scouting the Crimson Tide

• Alabama has three ranked singles players: No. 34 junior Mary Anne Macfarlane, No. 36 senior Alexa Guarachi and No. 118 freshman Maya Jansen

• The Tide has two ranked doubles teams: No. 7 Guarachi/Macfarlane and No. 83 Jansen/Antonia Foehse

• The team of Guarachi and Macfarlane will compete in the NCAA doubles tournament; each will also compete in the NCAA singles tournament

• Guarachi and Macfarlane earned 2013 All-SEC First-Team selection, while Foehse, a senior, claimed the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award

• Alabama has won two straight matches entering this week's, after losing to Georgia, 4-2, in the SEC tournament semifinals on April 20

• Last season, Alabama fell in the second round of the NCAA team tournament • Alabama has just six players on its roster

• Jenny Mainz is in her 16th season as head coach at Alabama

 

Last Week in the NCAA First and Second Rounds

Senior Tayler Davis clinched eighth-seeded California's 4-0 win over No. 25 Auburn in the NCAA Championships' second round as well as in the last home match of her college career on May 11 at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley. Davis defeated Plamena Kurteva, 6-2, 6-3, on court five to book Cal's ticket to the round of 16 - for the seventh straight year - and a meeting with ninth-seeded Alabama.

 

Eighth-ranked Cal improved its record to 18-5, while the Tigers end their NCAA team tournament run with a 19-9 record. A day earlier, Cal defeated Stony Brook by the same 4-0 score in the NCAA first round at Hellman.

 

The win over Auburn was reminiscent of Senior Day - Cal's last regular-season home match on April 19, when the Bears beat Stanford. Davis scored Cal's third point on that day, while senior Annie Goransson secured the victory over the Cardinal. On May 11, Goransson led Paulina Schippers 6-1, 5-2, on court six, but she just missed out on clinching the win over Auburn.

 

Cal quickly took the doubles point. The team of Davis and junior Kelly Chui raced to an 8-1 win on court three over Schippers and Emily Flickinger in about 35 minutes on court three, before the 33rd-ranked team of freshman Lynn Chi and junior Anett Schutting bested the 10th-ranked tandem of Kurteva and Pleun Burgmans, 8-3, on court one to secure the point.

 

Chi won Cal's first singles match with a dominant 6-0, 6-1, victory over Jackie Kasler on court four that made the score 2-0. The 43rd-ranked Fabikova followed with an almost as dominant 6-1, 6-1, triumph over Flickinger on court two that left Cal one point away from winning the match. Goransson, Davis and sophomore Zsofi Susanyi - who led Jen Pfeifler, 6-3, 4-2, on court three - vied for that honor, with Davis ultimately prevailing.

 

Last Time at the NCAA Championships

The ninth-seeded California women's tennis team (20-7) fell, 4-1, to No. 1-ranked and top-seeded UCLA (25-2) in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships on the Henry Field Courts of the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on May 19. The Golden Bears were in their 20th national quarterfinal but fell short against a Bruin squad that they had beaten in the regular season.

 

In the NCAA singles tournament, 13th-ranked California women's tennis freshman Zsofi Susanyi completed an impressive first year on campus with a team-best 41-8 singles record as she concluded her run in the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships on May 27 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. The Golden Bear was the first freshman in program history to advance as far as the national singles semifinal.

 

In her semifinal match, Susanyi faced Stanford's fifth-ranked and fifth-seeded senior Mallory Burdette for the third time in four weeks. Burdette won the first two meetings, and was unrelenting in the third as she came away with a 6-2, 6-2 win to advance to the national title match. Former Cal star and NCAA singles champ Jana Juricova reached the 2012 quarterfinals, while Anett Schutting and Tayler Davis each fell in the first round of the 2012 tournament. In doubles, the team of Juricova and Susanyi advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, while Cal's Goransson/Schutting reached the round of 16.

 

Next Time

Zsofi Susanyi, Anett Schutting and Klara Fabikova will compete in the NCAA singles tournament from May 22-27 in Urbana, Ill.