California Team Page
BERKELEY - California seniors Annie Goransson and Tayler Davis scored the ninth-ranked Golden Bears' last two points to clinch a 4-3 victory over No. 12 Stanford on Senior Day on Friday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The win marks Cal's first dual-match win over Stanford since 2009 and gave the Bears a second-place finish in the Pac-12.
This also marked the seniors' first win over Stanford in their college careers, though Davis attended that 2009 victory as a high school senior, as well as the two Bears' last regular-season home match. Cal honored its seniors in a pre-match ceremony for all their contributions to the program.
The Pac-12 Networks aired the match, after which Cal's record improved to 15-5 (9-1 in the Pac-12). Stanford now has a 16-4 (8-2 Pac-12) record.
"I couldn't be more happy for the seniors," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "They've been working so hard, and they just wanted it so bad. It just really shows if you keep doing the work, keep getting better, keep coming back match after match, on Senior Day...you couldn't write a more perfect ending to the match. I'm sore excited for them. They both struggled a little bit in their matches, but they came back and got it done."
"I don't think I could've asked for a better Senior Day - for it to come down to me and Annie," Davis said. "It was just a great feeling...I knew I was going to do everything I could to win this match because it meant that much to me. It's always good to beat Stanford."
"It's hard to describe," Goransson said of beating the Cardinal in her last regular-season match at Hellman. "So many times now I've lost to them, and this last time, this last opportunity, being at home and beating them is, I can't even describe how it feels. It's wonderful."
Stanford won two of three doubles matches to claim the doubles point. First on court one, Cal's 26th-ranked duo of freshman Lynn Chi and Anett Schutting fell to the seventh-ranked pair of Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs, 8-4. The Bears tied doubles play when Davis and junior Kelly Chui beat Natalie Dillon and Krista Hardebeck, 8-4, on court three. The Cardinal secured the point after a tight battle on court two, on which Cal's 41st-ranked team of freshman Klara Fabikova and sophomore Zsofi Susanyi fell to No. 47 Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay, 9-7.
In singles, the 61st-ranked Chi tied the overall score at 1-1 when she beat No. 94 Tan, 6-1, 6-3, on court four, though Stanford reclaimed the lead at 2-1 when No. 20 Gibbs defeated No. 7 Schutting, 6-2, 6-2, on court one. Susanyi, ranked seventh in singles, then tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-2, victory over No. 17 Hardebeck on court three.
Davis defeated No. 76 Ellen Tsay, 7-6(1), 6-4, on court four, and then Goransson beat Dillon, 6-2, 7-5, on court five to secure the team triumph at 4-2.
"It was amazing," Goransson said. "I just got this happy feeling throughout by entire body. All the hard work pays off."
The 55th-ranked Fabikova played in the last match, and fell to No. 34 Ahn, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, on court two to make the final score 4-3.
"I'm just really, really, really proud of the whole team really," Augustus added. "Lynn played great. Zsofi played great. Everyone played well. Klara lost a real tough one, but she really played well. Anett played so much better against Gibbs than last time, so we're coming together around the right time of year, which is definitely the goal."
Cal closes the regular season with a nonconference match at UC Santa Barbara on April 23 before competing in the Pac-12 Championships from April 25-28 in Ojai, Calif.
A full recap will follow.
No. 9 California 4, No. 12 Stanford 3
April 19, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1: No. 7 Ahn/Gibbs (Stanford) def. No. 26 Chi/Schutting (California) - 8-4
2: No. 47 Tan/Tsay (Stanford) def. No. 41 Fabikova/Susanyi (California) - 9-7
3: Chui/Davis (California) def. Dillon/Hardebeck (Stanford) - 8-4
(Stanford wins the doubles point)
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2.
Singles
1: No. 20 Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) def. No. 7 Anett Schutting (California) - 6-2, 6-2
2: No. 34 Kristie Ahn (Stanford) def. No. 55 Klara Fabikova (California) - 4-6, 6-0, 7-5
3: No. 5 Zsofi Susanyi (California) def. No. 17 Krista Hardebeck (Stanford) - 6-4, 6-2
4: No. 61 Lynn Chi (California) def. No. 94 Stacey Tan (Stanford) - 6-1, 6-3
5: Tayler Davis (California) def. No. 76 Ellen Tsay (Stanford) - 7-6(1), 6-4
6: Annie Goransson (California) def. Natalie Dillon (Stanford) - 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 3, 5, 6, 2.
Records: No. 12 Stanford 16-4 (8-2 Pac-12). No. 9 California 15-5 (9-1 Pac-12).
