College Tennis News - Cal Opens Pac-12 Play vs. Washington Schools

Friday, March 8
1:30 p.m. - No. 18 Cal (5-4) vs. No. 73 Washington State (10-2)
Hellman Tennis Complex - Berkeley
Series Record vs. Washington State: 15-1
Last Time vs. Washington State: W, 7-0 (3/25/12 in Berkeley)
Coverage: Live Video Stream, Twitter
Admission: Free

Saturday, March 9
Noon - No. 18 Cal (5-4) vs. No. 31 Washington (8-3)
Hellman Tennis Complex - Berkeley
Series Record vs. Washington: 27-3
Last Time vs. Washington: W, 6-1 (3/16/12 in Seattle)
Coverage: Live Video Stream, Twitter
Admission: Free

BERKELEY - Eighteenth-ranked California begins Pac-12 Conference play when it hosts No. 73 Washington State on Friday, March 8, at 1:30 p.m. and No. 31 Washington (8-3) on Saturday, March 9, at noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

Scouting the Bears
• Cal beat Washington State, 7-0, in a conference dual last season and has a 15-1 record in the all-time series with the Cougars
• The Bears - who have a 27-3 record in the all-time series with UW - swept the Huskies last year, beating them, 5-2, in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Berkeley and then 6-1 in the teams' Pac-12 dual in Seattle
• 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
• Amanda Augustus (Cal '99) is in her sixth year as head coach at Cal

Scouting the Cougars
• Washington State's 10-2 start is its best since 1986, when it began 10-1
• WSU has won seven-straight dual matches
• The Cougars beat Boise State, 5-2, in its most recent match on March 2 in Pullman, Wash.
• Lisa Hart is in her 10th year as head coach at Washington State

Scouting the Huskies
• Washington plays its Pac-12 opener at No. 26 Stanford at 1:30 p.m. on Friday before playing the Bears on Saturday
• The Huskies beat Iowa State, 7-0, on March 3 in Seattle in its last match
• UW's lone ranked singles player is Andjela Nemcevic, who is ranked 124th
• Jill Hultquist is in her eighth year as Washington's head coach

Last Time
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 March 2 at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. The Golden Bears' record fell to 5-4, while the Cardinal improved to 5-2.

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.

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.

Next Time
Cal plays a nonconference match against San Diego State on March 17 in San Diego at noon.