BERKELEY, Calif. – California tuned up for the Porsche Napa Valley Tennis Classic in a Wednesday exhibition match against the USTA Junior National Team, with the Golden Bears defeating the USTA squad, 6-3. Cal junior Billy Griffith clinched the victory, defeating Trey Hilderbrand, 6-0, 6-4, at court-seven singles.
 
"It's great for the USTA juniors to compete against college players in a team format," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "These matches provide our team valuable early season practice in preparation for our upcoming tournaments. Nine guys on our roster played today, and we looked good out there.
 
"In terms of historical significance, today's match is the first event in our '125 Years of Cal Tennis' celebration that will take place this season."
 
Wednesday's exhibition was similar to a college dual match, though the teams played four doubles matches instead of three and eight instead of six singles contests.
 
Freshman Dominic Barretto, in his first action for the Bears, had lifted Cal to a 4-1 lead with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Michael Heller at court-four singles, before Griffith clinched by making the overall score 5-3.
 
Earlier, Cal secured the doubles point when the pair of Barretto and senior Andre Goransson beat the USTA's Hilderbrand and Jaycer Lyeons, 6-4, on court two.
 
Freshman Bjorn Hoffmann also made his Cal and Hellman debut, albeit in an unofficial competition. He teamed with junior J.T. Nishimura to knock off the USTA's Christian Alshon and Axel Nefve at court-three doubles, 6-1. Hoffman later lost to Nefve at court-three singles, 6-4, 6-2.
 
Cal will see the USTA juniors again on Friday, when both teams start play in the Porsche Napa Valley Tennis Classic at the Meadowood Napa Valley Resort in St. Helena, California. Four Bears - Goransson, Griffith, Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat - will play in the tournament, which ends on Sunday and also includes players from Baylor, North Carolina, Texas, Tulsa and USC.
 
EXHIBITION: Cal def. USTA Junior National Team – 6-3
Sept. 14, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Lukas Greif/Andrew Fenty (USTA) –6-3
2. Andre Goransson/Dominic Barretto (Cal) def. Trey Hilderbrand/Jaycer Lyeons (USTA) – 6-4
3. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Christian Alshon/Axel Nefve (USTA) – 6-1
4. Michael Heller/Harris Walker (USTA) def. Billy Griffith/Gunther Matta (Cal) – 7-6(5)
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of finish – 3, 1, 2*, 4
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. Lukas Greif (USTA) – 6-1, 6-1
2. Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Harris Walker (USTA) – 6-2, 6-2
3. Axel Nefve (USTA) def. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) – 6-4, 6-2
4. Dominic Barretto (Cal) def. Michael Heller (USTA) – 6-3, 7-5
5. Jaycer Lyeons (USTA) def. Gunther Matta (Cal) – 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Andrew Fenty (USTA) def. Ryan Shen (Cal) – 6-2, 7-6(4)
7. Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Christian Alshorn (USTA) – 7-6(5), 7-5
8. Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Trey Hilderbrand (USTA) – 6-0, 6-4
 
Order of Finish – 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5, 8*, 7
 
*Clinched the overall match