California Team Page
BERKELEY - Eighth-seeded and seventh-ranked California will face Stony Brook when it hosts the first and second rounds of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships on Friday, May 10, at the Hellman Tennis Complex, the NCAA announced on Tuesday. Auburn, ranked 21st, and No. 40 Saint Mary's will also compete at Hellman on May 10, with Friday's winners battling in the second round at noon on Saturday, May 11, in Berkeley.
2013 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships
First and Second Rounds: May 10-11
Hellman Tennis Complex - Berkeley, Calif.
First Round - Friday, May 10
10 a.m. - No. 21 Auburn (18-8) vs. No. 40 Saint Mary's (13-9)
1 p.m. - [8] No. 7 Cal (16-5) vs. Stony Brook (12-4)
Second Round - Saturday, May 11
Noon - First-round winners
"We're glad to be hosting," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said, "especially given where our team is academically, finishing up their classes and heading into finals. It definitely helps, and it's a reward for having a good season. The girls worked very hard, and we had a very good regular season, so they deserve the honor of hosting."
The NCAA tournament field includes 64 teams - including 31 automatic qualifiers and 33 at-large teams - and 16 first- and second-round sites.
This marks the eighth consecutive year that Cal will host opening NCAA action, including the first and second rounds from 2008-13 and regionals from 2006-07. The NCAA has chosen the Golden Bears for all 32 national championships.
Cal is one of five Pac-12 teams in the postseason, including USC, Pac-12 champ UCLA, Stanford and Arizona State. USC has the highest seed among the Pac-12 schools, at No. 5, and UCLA is the seventh seed, while the Cardinal and Sun Devils are not seeded.
"I was a little disappointed not seeing more of our conference team selected," Augustus said. "Normally we have seven or so. We had a couple on the bubble from our conference. We play good tennis out here."
Since the NCAA tournament went to a 64-team format in 1999, the Bears have advanced to at least the round of 16 12 times including last season. In 2012, Cal beat Sacramento State in the first round and Pepperdine in the second round by a pair of 4-0 scores in Berkeley to reach the round of 16. In that round, the Bears beat Georgia Tech, 4-0, in Athens, Ga. Cal lost to eventual NCAA runner-up UCLA, 4-1, in the quarterfinals in Athens. The Bears reached the title match for the first time in program history in 2008, Augustus' first year as Cal's head coach, and duplicated that run in 2009.
Fans unable to attend the matches in Berkeley can watch the action via Cal's live streaming page.
Ticket Information
Tickets for the matches in Berkeley will cost $10 for adults as well as $5 for seniors 65 and older, youths high school age or younger, and students with valid ID from the four participating institutions. Tickets can be purchased (cash only) at the Stow Plaza gate at the Hellman Tennis Complex on the day of each match.
A Look at the Berkeley Field
• Stony Brook recently won its second straight America East Conference title
• Seawolves' senior Nini Lagvilava is ranked No. 115 by the ITA
• Auburn is making its seventh appearance at NCAAs and its first since 2009
• The Tigers' 6-1 freshman Pleun Burgmans is ranked 20th in singles
• Auburn has two ranked doubles teams: No. 10 Burgmans/Plamena Kurteva and No. 37 Jen Pfeifler/Jackie Kasler
• The last time Saint Mary's played at Hellman, the Gaels lost to Cal, 7-0, on Jan. 28 in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
• Saint Mary's has the following ranked players: No. 23 Jenny Jullien in singles and No. 78 Catherine Isip/Elizabeth Searl in doubles
NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships
The announcement of the participants for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be held on Wednesday, May 1, with the names of the student-athletes selected posted to NCAA.com no later than 3 p.m. PT.
As of the April 23 ITA polls, Cal had four singles players ranked and two doubles teams ranked. The ranked singles players are No. 5 Zsofi Susanyi (sophomore), No. 8 Anett Schutting (junior), No. 62 Klara Fabikova (freshman) and No. 66 Lynn Chi (freshman). The ranked doubles players are No. 29 Chi/Schutting and No. 45 Fabikova/Susanyi.
"We're hoping we get four (singles) players selected tomorrow, and - we'll see - one, maybe two doubles teams," Augustus said.
Last Time at the NCAA Championships
The ninth-seeded California women's tennis team (20-7) fell, 4-1, to No. 1-ranked and top-seeded UCLA (25-2) in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships on the Henry Feild Courts of the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on May 19. The Golden Bears were in their 20th national quarterfinal but fell short against a Bruin squad that they had beaten in the regular season.
In the NCAA singles tournament, 13th-ranked California women's tennis freshman Zsofi Susanyi completed an impressive first year on campus with a team-best 41-8 singles record as she concluded her run in the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships on May 27 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. The Golden Bear was the first freshman in program history to advance as far as the national singles semifinal.
In her semifinal match, Susanyi faced Stanford's fifth-ranked and fifth-seeded senior Mallory Burdette for the third time in four weeks. Burdette won the first two meetings, and was unrelenting in the third as she came away with a 6-2, 6-2 win to advance to the national title match. Former Cal star and NCAA singles champ Jana Juricova reached the 2012 quarterfinals, while Anett Schutting and Tayler Davis each fell in the first round of the 2012 tournament. In doubles, the team of Juricova and Susanyi advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, while Cal's Goransson/Schutting reached the round of 16.
Next Time
The teams that survive the opening weekend of NCAAs will advance to the NCAA Championships that run from May 16-21 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Urbana, Ill. For information on the NCAA Championships, including ticket details, history and more, please visit NCAA.com.
