UCLA
California
No. 3 Cal Edges Fifth-Ranked UCLA, 4-3
March 21, 2015 | Women's Tennis
Unlike the previous meeting between the two teams, UCLA was unable to grab the one point awarded for doubles play, suffering a pair of 8-4 losses at court Nos. 1 and 3. The Bruins' lone win in doubles came at the No. 2 spot, where Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady upset 11th-ranked Klara Fabikova and Zsofi Susanyi, 8-6. Brady's involvement in Friday's match was an encouraging sign for UCLA, as she has not seen any action in a dual match since Kansas State on Jan. 25.
Cal was able to capitalize on its momentum from winning the doubles point, taking the first two singles matches in straight sets to move out to a 3-0 lead in the match. UCLA, however, would respond with a pair of wins of its own. Kristin Wiley was first off at court No. 6, where she downed Cecilia Estlander, 6-1, 6-3. In a battle of top 5 opponents at court No. 1, the second-ranked Anderson was able to prevail over fourth-ranked Maegan Manasse, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to cut Cal's lead to 3-2.
At the point of Anderson's victory, two matches remained on court. Chanelle Van Nguyen and Klara Fabikova were in a tight second set at court No. 2, and Catherine Harrison and Susanyi were in a third set at court No. 4. Most of the drama, however, came at court No. 2, where Van Nguyen was desperately trying to get to a third set after dropping the first set to Fabikova. The two players engaged in an epic tiebreaker, one that saw Van Nguyen fight off four match points to tie the score at 11-11. Fabikova, however, stayed the course, eventually converting her fifth match point in the tiebreaker to take the match 7-5, 7-6(11), clinching the win for Cal. Van Nguyen, who also had one set point in the tiebreaker, fought off a total of six match points, as Fabikova also had a match point on Van Nguyen's serve at 5-4 in the second set.
With the match already decided, Harrison was able to prevail over Susanyi at court No. 4, winning 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(6). Like Van Nguyen, Harrison was also on the verge of losing, as she was down 3-6 in the third set tiebreaker before winning the final five points of the match.
UCLA has less than 24 hours to regroup before No. 10 Stanford visits the LATC for a Noon showdown on Saturday.
#3 Cal 4, #5 UCLA 3
Mar 20, 2015 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
| Doubles |
| 1. #5 Manasse/Starr (CAL) def. #3 Harrison/McPhillips (UCLA) 8-4 |
| 2. Anderson/Jennifer Brady (UCLA) def. #11 Fabikova/Susanyi (CAL) 8-6 |
| 3. Lynn Chi/Popovic (CAL) def. Van Nguyen/Wiley (UCLA) 8-4 |
Cal Wins Doubles Point
| Singles |
| 1. #2 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. #4 Maegan Manasse (CAL) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2. #27 Klara Fabikova (CAL) def. #10 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) 7-5, 7-6(11) |
| 3. #81 Denise Starr (CAL) def. #35 Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 4. #79 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. #29 Zsofi Susanyi (CAL) 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(6) |
| 5. #60 Karla Popovic (CAL) def. #98 Kaitlin Ray (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3 |
| 6. Kristin Wiley (UCLA) def. Cecilia Estlander (CAL) 6-1, 6-3 |
| Match Notes |
| Cal 12-2; 3-0 Pac-12; National ranking #3 |
| UCLA 11-3; 1-1 Pac-12; National ranking #5 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,5,6,1,2,4) |
Players Mentioned
