College Tennis News - No. 9 Cal Hosts Hornets, Plays at Stanford

BERKELEY - Buoyed by a strong showing against its southern California rivals, ninth-ranked Californian (4-3) takes on Sacramento State (1-5) on Friday, March 1, at 1:30 p.m. at home before battling No. 26 Stanford (4-2) in the Big Slam on Saturday, March 2, at noon down on the Farm.

This Cal-Stanford meeting is a nonconference match; their April 19 match at Cal will be a Pac-12 dual.

The Golden Bears won their last match - a 5-2 victory over then-No. 6 USC - on Feb. 23 after playing well but narrowly falling to then-No. 2 UCLA, 4-3, on Feb. 22; both matches took place at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

Scouting the Bears
• Cal boasts four players ranked nationally by the ITA in singles, including No. 5 sophomore Zsofi Susanyi, No. 8 junior Anett Schutting, No. 49 freshman Lynn Chi and No. 117 freshman Klara Fabikova
• Susanyi was previously ranked as the nation's co-No. 1; an All-American, Susanyi reached the NCAA singles semifinals as a freshman in 2012
• The previous time a Cal singles player was ranked No. 1 was in 2011, when former NCAA singles champion Jana Juricova earned that distinction
• The following Cal teams are ranked in doubles: No. 26 Susanyi/Fabikova and No. 30 Chi/Schutting
• The USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships held last October in Stanford, Calif., featured several Cal-Stanford matchups, including in the singles quarterfinals, in which Cal senior Tayler Davis beat Stanford's Stacey Tan, 6-4, 6-4; Schutting defeated Ellen Tsay, 6-3, 6-3; and Fabikova knocked off Kristie Ahn, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
• Ultimately, Schutting fell to the Cardinal's Krista Hardebeck in the singles final, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4)
• In the regional doubles final, Davis and senior Annie Goransson lost to Stanford's Stacey Tan/Ellen Tsay, 8-4
• Prior to its matches against the southern California schools, Cal reached the quarterfinal round of the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va.
• Amanda Augustus is in her sixth year as head coach at her alma mater

Scouting the Hornets
• Against the lone common opponent - Fresno State - between Sacramento State and Cal, the Hornets lost, 6-1, in their last match on Feb. 22, while the Bears beat the Bulldogs, 7-0, on Jan. 27
• Freshman Jennifer Nguyen earned the Hornets' point against FSU, beating Bianca Modoc, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, in court-four singles
• While nine of the Hornets hail from outside the United States, their roster includes one East Bay product in Oakland's Chyna Brown
• Dima Hrynashka is in his seventh year as head coach of Sacramento State

Scouting the Cardinal
• Stanford has the following ranked singles players: No. 14 Krista Hardebeck, No. 31 Ellen Tsay, No. 48 Kristie Ahn, No. 87 Nicole Gibbs and No. 103 Stacey Tan
• Gibbs, a junior, is the defending NCAA singles and doubles champion; she won the doubles title with former teammate Mallory Burdette, whom Gibbs defeated to win the singles title
• Gibbs was also the 2012 ITA Player of the Year, Pac-12 Player of the Year and Honda Sports Award winner for women's tennis; she also won the Pac-12 singles crown
• Cal and Stanford have one common opponent - Saint Mary's; the Bears trounced the Gaels, 7-0, on Jan. 28, at home, while the then-No. 45 Gaels upset the then-No. 7 Cardinal, 4-3, on Feb. 16 at Stanford
• The loss to Saint Mary's marked just the third time since 1999 that Stanford has lost at home
• In its last match, Stanford lost at then-No. 4 Florida, 4-2, on Feb. 24
• Lele Forood is in her 13 season as head coach of Stanford

Last Time
Then-No. 7 Cal rebounded from a close loss to defeat then-No. 6 USC, 5-2, on Feb. 23 at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The nonconference victory over the Trojans gave the Golden Bears a split with the southern California schools, after a 4-3 setback against No. 2 UCLA one day prior.

Neither co-No. 1 singles player - Cal's Zsofi Susanyi and USC sophomore Sabrina Santamaria - played singles matches, though each played doubles. Susanyi was hampered by an injury sustained against the Bruins, while Santamaria suffered a minor injury in doubles against Cal.

After USC won the doubles point, Cal bounced back to win the match by producing a 5-1 record in singles, with Tayler Davis' court-four win over Kaitlyn Christian, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, clinching the match for the Bears. With Susanyi out for singles, Schutting played on court one for the second consecutive match, and this time the nation's 12th-ranked player upset the No. 3 player in Lao, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, to make the final score 5-2.

Next Time
Cal hosts No. 61 Washington State on March 8 and No. 36 Washington on March 9 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.