May 19, 2005

Athens, GA - The No. 24 California women's tennis team ended its season Thursday morning with a 4-2 loss to No. 8 Georgia in the Round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. The loss leaves the Golden Bears final overall record at 14-9, while the Bulldogs improve to 18-7.

Georgia opened play taking the doubles point with two quick wins on courts one and two. The Bulldogs, who feature the No. 1 duo in the nation, have yet to drop a doubles point this season.

In singles play, Cal fell behind 3-0 with losses on courts six and three, before beginning to mount a comeback. Freshman co-captain and No. 8 in the nation Suzi Babos won a hard-fought three-set match on court one, defeating No. 10 Shadisha Robinson, 6-3; 0-6; 6-2.

The Bears other victory came on court five, where junior co-captain Jessica Shu tallied her 28th singles victory of the year, with a straight-set victory over Eugenia Subbotina, 6-1; 6-3.

While Cal's season has drawn to a conclusion, Babos was selected to compete in the 2005 NCAA Singles Championships. The Sopron, Hungary, native will enter the tournament as the eighth seed. Fellow freshman Visico was selected as the seventh alternate for the west region.

Competition for NCAA singles and doubles titles will begin following the conclusion of team championship play, May 23-28 in Athens, Ga.

Complete Results
Georgia 4, Cal 2
Doubles
1. #1 Robinson / Basu (UG) d. #37 Babos / Kusano (Cal), 8-1
2. Subbotina / Hyndman (UG) d. Shu / Lee (Cal), 8-2
3. Visico / Ravelojaona (Cal) v. Frazier / Schonfledova, 6-1 DNF
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
1. (Cal) #8 Suzi Babos d. (UG) #10 Shadisha Robinson, 6-3; 0-6; 6-2
2. (UG) #27 Natalie Frazier d. (Cal) #78 Stephanie Kusano, 6-3; 6-4
3. (UG) Caroline Basu d. (Cal) Monica Wiesener, 6-3; 6-0
4. (Cal) Marion Ravelojaona v. (UG) Kelley Hyndman, 6-3; 5-4 DNF
5. (Cal) Jessica Shu d. (UG) Eugenia Subbotina, 6-1; 6-3
6. (UG) Jitka Schonfeldova d. (Cal) Cristina Visico, 6-1; 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 5, 2