Jan. 28, 2013

BERKELEY - With a trip to the prestigious ITA National Team Indoor Championship on the line, seventh-ranked California did what it normally does - dominate the opposition - to earn its berth the upcoming tournament in Charlottesville, Va. The Golden Bears (2-0) swept No. 42 Saint Mary's, 7-0, in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend championship on Monday at the Hellman Tennis Complex to clinch their berth.

Cal did not lose a set to the Gaels (1-1) and lost just one set over the two-day ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Hellman. One day earlier, the Bears shut out No. 60 Fresno State, 7-0, to earn its spot in Monday's final.

"We're excited to advance to the indoors again," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "It's a good tournament for us. We'll get to play some highly ranked, out of the region teams. It's always a good trip for us.

"You still have to win the matches. It's definitely not a formality to play this. I'm really happy. The girls stepped up today. They knew they were going to have to play a little bit better today than they played yesterday, and they did. I think overall we played better overall against this team than we did last week (in the Cal Winter Invitational), so I was happy with that."

The Bears got off to a quick start, winning two doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Sophomore Zsofi Susanyi teamed with freshman Klara Fabikova to defeat the Gaels' Catherine Isip and Elizabeth Searl, 8-1, on court one, with senior Tayler Davis and sophomore Laura Posylkin topping Jenny Jullien and Audrey Leitz, 8-3, on court three to clinch the point.

Singles took a bit longer, as the two teams opted to play all six singles matches. Fabikova did make quick work of Jade Frampton, bageling the Gael, 6-0, 6-0, on court four. Freshman Lynn Chi - ranked 109th in the nation - followed with a 6-1, 6-2, victory over Danielle Flores on court three. When junior and ninth-ranked Anett Schutting bested Isip, 6-0, 6-4, on four two, Cal - winning 4-0 - sewed up its trip to Charlottesville.

The Bears and Gaels played out their remaining matches, with Cal junior Kelly Chui posting a 6-2, 6-0, win over Leitz on court six and then Davis notching a 6-3, 6-3, victory over Catherine Leduc on court five.

The longest match of the day came on court one, where Jullien gave Susanyi a test. The Cal sophomore - the seventh-ranked player in the nation - lost the first game and later trailed 3-1. But the talented All-American - who reached the semifinals of last year's NCAA Championships - responded with some clutch tennis to eke out a 6-4 first-set win. The second set was even tighter than the first, but Susanyi prevailed in the tiebreaker to win 7-6(4).

Cal returns to action in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship scheduled for Feb. 8-11 in Virginia. The Bears advanced to the championship match once, in 2000, when they fell to Stanford, and made semifinal appearances three times - from 2009 to 2010 and last year, when Cal fell to Duke.

No. 7 Cal 7, No. 42 Saint Mary's 0
2013 ITA Kick-Off Weekend Championship
Monday, Jan. 28
Hellman Tennis Complex | Berkeley, Calif.

Doubles
1: Susanyi/Fabikova (Cal) defeated Isip/Searl (Saint Mary's) - 8-1
2: Chi/Schutting (Cal) vs. Flores/Frampton (Saint Mary's) - DNF
3: Davis/Posylkin (Cal) defeated Jullien/Leitz (Saint Mary's) - 8-3
(Cal wins the doubles point)

Singles
1: Susanyi (Cal) defeated Jullien (Saint Mary's) - 6-4, 7-6(4)
2: Schutting (Cal) defeated Isip (Saint Mary's) - 6-0, 6-4
3: Chi (Cal) defeated Flores (Saint Mary's) - 6-1, 6-2
4: Fabikova (Cal) defeated Frampton (Saint Mary's) - 6-0, 6-0
5: Davis (Cal) defeated Leduc (Saint Mary's) - 6-3, 6-3
6: Chui (Cal) defeated Leitz (Saint Mary's) - 6-2, 6-0

No. 60 Fresno State 5, No. 51 UNLV 2
2013 ITA Kick-Off Weekend Consolation Match
Monday, Jan. 28
Hellman Tennis Complex | Berkeley, Calif.

Doubles
1: Batta/Pavlovic (UNLV) defeated Modoc/S. Watts (Fresno State) - 8-3
2: Agrawal/Sherif Ahmed (Fresno State) defeated Josifoska/Kotseva (UNLV) - 8-1
3: McQueen/Susdorf (Fresno State) defeated Erasmus/Ferenczi-Bako (UNLV) - 8-7(3)
(Fresno State wins the doubles point)

Singles
1: Josifoska (UNLV) defeated Agrawal (Fresno State) - 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
2: Batta (UNLV) defeated Sherif Ahmed (Fresno State) - 6-2, 6-4
3: McQueen (Fresno State) defeated Pavlovic (UNLV) - 6-4, 1-6, 5-7
4: S. Watts (Fresno State) defeated Erasmus (UNLV) - 6-3, 6-2
5: Modoc (Fresno State) defeated Kotseva (UNLV) - 6-2, 6-0
6: Susdorf (Fresno State) defeated Ferenczi-Bako (UNLV) - 2-6, 6-3, 6-2