California Team Page

STANFORD, Calif. - California concluded a strong run in the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships with appearances in Tuesday's finals, as junior Anett Schutting in singles and seniors Tayler Davis and Annie Goransson in doubles fell to their Stanford counterparts at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

Schutting, the fourth seed and 22nd-player in the nation, took fifth-seeded Krista Hardebeck - the top-ranked freshman in the nation - to three sets on the latter's home court before ultimately dropping a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) match. The sixth-seeded pair of Davis-Goransson lost to top-seeded Stacey Tan-Ellen Tsay, 8-4.

At stake was entry into the Nov. 8-11 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York. The regional champions earned automatic berths to the indoor tournament. Schutting, Davis, Goransson and other Cal teammates including sophomore Zsofi Susanyi are in contention for at-large berths.

"Anett had a really great event," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "She's been consistently improving this fall. We saw her get her first top-10 win at the All-American, and in this one she got to the final, and she was a couple points away from winning the final. She's really started to add more variety to her game. Her fitness level has improved, so she's able to compete with these top national players. She's learned she can do it, and now she's learned to do it consistently. I'm really excited for her. Hopefully she'll be selected on Tuesday [to the national indoor tournament] because I think her play thus far this fall warrants her to be one of those players at indoors."
 
"Tayler had such a good tournament, getting to the semifinals of singles and reaching the doubles final," Augustus added. "And for someone always considered a singles player, Annie did very well in doubles. She works very hard. She had a good performance in the tournament."

Davis and Goransson knocked off teammates Schutting and sophomore Zsofi Susanyi in Monday's semifinal, 8-3, en route to Tuesday's title match.

"Annie and Tayler hadn't played together since freshman year," Augustus said. "But they know each other really well, are really good friends and have practiced together for four years. That was a good win for them over their teammates in the semifinal; it's always hard to play your teammates. I'm proud to have them to be finalists from our region."