California Team Page
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Seventh-ranked California got a win at No. 1 singles, but the fifth-seeded Golden Bears lost to sixth-ranked Georgia, 4-1, on Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship. Zsofi Susanyi claimed the lone victory, as the Bears lost three singles matches and the doubles point to the fourth-seeded Bulldogs at the Boar's Head Sports Club.
Cal plays in Sunday's consolation round at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET against third-seeded and fourth-ranked USC, which lost to sixth-seeded/eighth-ranked North Carolina, 4-3, on Saturday.
"It was a much closer match in doubles and in singles than the score reflects," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "They're a good team; they're always a good team. We always have battles with them. Last year we beat them here 4-0, but that match was much closer, too.
"I think they were really fired up and ready to play us. They always are. Doubles wise, on court two we were playing really well and on one, that was a really tough match. We had a couple opportunities; it was a back and forth match. Like I always say, the doubles point is pretty crucial. We very nearly recovered from it; the singles matches were pretty tight on a lot of courts"
Susanyi, a sophomore All-American, defeated 18th-ranked Maho Kowase, 6-0, 6-4, to tie the match at 1-1, after the Bulldogs won the doubles point. In doubles, the Cal pair of senior Tayler Davis and sophomore Laura Posylkin fell, 8-1, to Georgia's Mia King/Lauren Herring on court three to start the day, and then Susanyi and freshman Klara Fabikova lost to the Bulldogs Kate Fuller/Silvia Garcia, 8-2, on court one, to wrap up the point for Georgia.
"It was a good win for Zsofi today," Augustus said. "She lost to Kowase in the fall when Zsofi was working her way back from her injury. Good win for Zsofi; she played really well, and it was good to have a rematch with Kowase. That was the definite highlight today. They were a little bit better than us today. This will make us go home and work harder. Maybe we'll face them again, maybe in NCAAs."
In singles, the 54th-ranked Garcia topped 109th-ranked freshman Lynn Chi, 6-4, 6-2, to move the Bulldogs back into the lead at 2-1. Sophomore Cecilia Estlander then succumbed to No. 76 Mackenzie Craft, 6-1, 6-0, on court six and junior Kelly Chui Davis dropped a 6-4, 6-1, result to King, to give Georgia the 4-1 team win.
"It's good where we are right now," Augustus added. "Of course we would've liked to have won today. But I think it was a good test for us; we competed well. We have things to work on."
No. 6 Georgia 4, No. 7 California 1
ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship
Feb. 9 in Charlottesville, Va.
Boar's Head Sports Club
Doubles
1: Fuller/Garcia (Georgia) def. Susanyi/Fabikova (Cal) - 8-2
2: Kimbell/Kowase vs. Schutting/Chi - DNF
3: Herring/King def. Davis/Posylkin - 8-1
(Georgia wins the doubles point)
Order of Finish: 3, 1.
Singles
1: No. 7 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. No. 18 Maho Kowase (Georgia) - 6-0, 6-4
2: No. 8 Lauren Herring (Georgia) vs. No. 9 Anett Schutting (Cal) - DNF
3: Silvia Garcia (Georgia) def. No. 109 Lynn Chi (Cal) - 6-4, 6-2
4: No. 54 Kate Fuller (Georgia) vs. Tayler Davis (Cal) - DNF
5: King (Georgia) def. Kelly Chui (Cal) - 6-4, 6-1
6: Mackenzie Craft (Georgia) def. Cecilia Estlander (Cal) - 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6, 5
