California Team Page
STANFORD, Calif. - California won the first match and the last match of the day, but the ninth-ranked Golden Bears lost to No. 26 Stanford, 6-1, in a nonconference match on Saturday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Center. The Golden Bears' record fell to 5-4, while the Cardinal improved to 5-2.
"Stanford played well today," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "They always play well against us especially at their home. We had some good matches, but we just didn't have enough matches go our way to get it done today. The team competed well. Stanford came out with a little something extra; the last time they played at home they took a tough loss, so they were really, really fired up. A few of their players played really well today. We have some stuff to work on before we see them again in six or eight weeks."
Cal began the day with the duo of seniors Tayler Davis and Annie Goransson beating Natalie Dillon/Krista Hardebeck, 8-1, on court three. The 30th-ranked team of freshman Lynn Chi and junior Anett Schutting then fell to the Cardinal's Kristie Ahn/Nicole Gibbs, 8-4, on court one, before Cal junior Kelly Chui and freshman Klara Fabikova lost to Stacey Tan/Ellen Tsay, 8-4, on court two to clinch the doubles point for the Cardinal.
"Tayler and Annie played really well," Augustus said. "Their grace as seniors really showed. Annie is really happy to be back out there. That's their last Stanford match down here as seniors; I'm proud of what they did today. I hope they keep building from here."
The Bears were without the services of the sophomore star Zsofi Susanyi for the second straight match. A minor injury sidelined the nation's fifth-ranked singles player who with Fabikova also forms the nation's 26th-ranked doubles team.
In singles, the court-two battle between Ahn and Chi featured the 48th and 49th ranked players in the nation, and the 48th-ranked Ahn prevailed, 6-3, 6-2, to give the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.
Stanford claimed three more two-set victories, as the eighth-ranked Schutting lost to No. 87 Gibbs on court one, 6-2, 6-2, No. 117 Fabikova fell to No. 14 Hardebeck on court three, 6-3, 7-5 - officially winning the match for Stanford - and Chui lost to No. 31 Tsay, 6-2, 6-2, on court five to make the score 5-0.
Cal won its first set when Davis won the first set of her match with Tan, 6-0, the 103rd-ranked Cardinal player won the rest of the way, 7-5, 6-0, to make the team score 6-0.
Junior Alice Duranteau notched Cal's lone point, beating Lindsey Kostas, 7-6(6), 6-2, on court six.
"Like Annie, Alice has recovered from an injury that she had to work her way back from, working hard on and off the court," Augustus said. "She really competed hard today, and it was good for her to get a point on the board for us. She did a really good job, and that gives her confidence going into her next matches. She showed a ton of improvement in the last month. It's good to see her successful today."
Cal returns to action when it hosts the Washington schools next week. The Bears play No. 61 Washington State on Friday, March 8, at 1:30 p.m. in their first Pac-12 dual of the season and then takes on No. 36 Washington in another conference dual at noon on Saturday, March 9, at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
No. 26 Stanford 6, No. 9 Cal 1
March 2, 2013, in Stanford, Calif.
Taube Family Tennis center
Doubles 1: Ahn/Gibbs (Stanford) def. No. 30 Chi/Schutting (Cal) - 8-4
2: Tan/Tsay (Stanford) def. Chui/Fabikova (Cal) - 8-4
3: Davis/Goransson (Cal) def. Dillon/Hardebeck - 8-1
(Stanford wins the doubles point)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2.
Singles
1: No. 87 Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) def. No. 8 Anett Schutting (Cal) - 6-2, 6-2
2: No. 48 Kristie Ahn (Stanford) def. No. 49 Lynn Chi (Cal) - 6-3, 6-2
3: No. 14 Krista Hardebeck (Stanford) def. No. 117 Klara Fabikova (Cal) - 6-3, 7-5
4: No. 103 Stacey Tan (Stanford) def. Tayler Davis (Cal) - 0-6, 7-5, 6-0
5: No. 31 Ellen Tsay (Stanford) def. Kelly Chui (Cal) - 6-2, 6-2
6: Alice Duranteau (Cal) def. Lindsey Kostas (Stanford) - 7-6(6), 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6.
