Golden Medals: Big Slam wins give both Cal Men's and Women's Tennis momentum into Pac-12 Championships

Cal Men's Tennis (17-7, 5-2 in Pac-12)

Closing out the regular season, Cal Men's Tennis earned a small upset win over Stanford down at the Farm last Saturday.

The then 28th ranked Bears upset then 24th ranked Stanford, via a 4-3 win. The win allowed the Bears to move up the ranking to number 25. The Bears dropped the doubles point, but evened things with a court 1 win by senior Andre Goransson. The two schools then traded results in courts 6 (won by Stanford), 4 (won by Cal), 3 (won by Cal), and 2 (won by Stanford) before everything depends on court 5. Cal freshman Billy Griffith rallied from losing the first set to win set 2 in tie-breakers. He closed out Cal's win with a 6-4 final set.

For his heroics, Griffith was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.

No. 28 California (17-7, 5-2 Pac-12) defeated No. 24 Stanford (16-5, 6-1 Pac-12) – 4-3

April 18, 2015, in Stanford, Calif.

Taube Family Tennis Stadium

Doubles
1) No. 22 John Morrissey/Robert Stineman (Stanford) def. No. 44 Gregory Bayane/Chase Melton (Cal) – 6-2
2) Tom Fawcett/Maciek Romanowicz (Stanford) vs. Filip Bergevi/Mads Engsted (Cal) – Abandoned
3) Nolan Paige/David Wilczynski (Stanford) def. No. 73 Andre Goransson/Oskar Wikberg (Cal) – 6-4

Stanford won the doubles point

Order of Finish: 1, 3*

*Clinched the doubles point

Singles

1) No. 35 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. No. 31 Tom Fawcett (Stanford) – 7-5, 6-0
2) No. 60 John Morrissey (Stanford) def. No. 91 Filip Bergevi (Cal) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3) Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. David Wilczynski (Stanford) – 6-3, 6-3
4) J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Robert Stineman (Stanford) – 7-5, 7-5
5) Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Nolan Paige (Stanford) – 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4
6) David Hsu (Stanford) def. Mads Engsted (Cal) – 7-6(1), 6-0

Order of Finish: 1, 6, 4, 3, 2, 5^

^Clinched the overall match

In Ojai, California this week, the Bears are fighting for a Pac-12 title. Here is the bracket:

Earning the first round bye, the 4th seed Bears took on Oregon (who took out Arizona in the first round) on Thursday. Bears were up to the challenge but had to eke out a 4-3 victory to set up a Big Slam rematch against Stanford today at noon.

Pac-12 Championship

Quarterfinal Round

[4] No. 25 California (18-7) defeated [5] No. 50 Oregon (15-9) – 4-3

April 23, 2015, in Ojai, Calif.

Libbey Park

Doubles

1. No. 49 Gregory Bayane/Chase Melton (Cal) def. No. 77 Daan Maasland/Simon Stevens (Oregon) – 8-3

2. Daniel Sardu/Joey Swaysland (Oregon) def. Filip Bergevi/Oskar Wikberg (Cal) – 8-4

3. Jayson Amos/Cormac Clissold (Oregon) def. No. 86 Andre Goransson/Oskar Wikberg (Cal) – 8-5

Oregon captured the doubles point

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*

*Clinched the doubles point

Singles

1. No. 29 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. No. 115 Daan Maasland (Oregon) – 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

2. Daniel Sardu (Oregon) def. No. 99 Filip Bergevi (Cal) – 2-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(5)

3. Gregory Bayane (Cal) vs. Simon Stevens (Oregon) – 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4

4. Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Jayson Amos (Oregon) – 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4

5. Cormac Clissold (Oregon) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) – 6-3, 6-2

6. Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Joey Swaysland (Oregon) – 6-2, 6-2

Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1, 4, 2, 3 ^

^Clinched the overall match

Bears lost the non-conference match against Stanford in Berkeley earlier this season via a 4-3 score before the 4-3 victory last week. The two squads are pretty evenly matched, and I doubt the extra match for the Bears is cause for any fitness issue today.

Cal Women's Tennis

The format of the Pac-12 Championships for the women is different as the players play as individuals and pairs.

The 4th ranked Cal women did close out the regular season with a Big Slam win of their own last Saturday. The Bears won via a 5-2 score but clinched the win after the first 4 results were done (and you can't go any faster than that).

No. 4 California (20-3, 9-1 Pac-12) defeated No. 11 Stanford (15-5, 7-3 Pac-12) – 5-2

April 18, 2015, in Berkeley, Calif.

Hellman Tennis Complex

Doubles

1. No. 10 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. No. 2 Carol Zhao/Taylor Davidson (Stanford) – 8-3

2. Lynn Chi/Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 14 Caroline Doyle/Ellen Tsay (Stanford) – 8-4

3. Lyann Hoang/Karla Popovic (Cal) vs. Krista Hardebeck/Paulette Wolak (Stanford) – 7-4 Abandoned

Cal captured the doubles point

Order of finish: 1, 2*

*Clinched the doubles point

Singles

1. No. 2 Carol Zhao (Stanford) def. No. 24 Klara Fabikova (Cal) – 7-5, 6-2

2. No. 48 Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 18 Taylor Davidson (Stanford) – 6-3, 6-4

3. No. 40 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. No. 96 Krista Hardebeck (Stanford) – 6-2, 6-2

4. No. 112 Ellen Tsay (Stanford) def. No. 89 Karla Popovic (Cal) – 6-2, 6-4

5. No. 56 Lynn Chi (Cal) def. Lindsay Kostas (Stanford) – 6-1, 6-0

6. Cecilia Estlander (Cal) def. Paulette Wolak (Stanford) – 6-0, 6-1

Order of finish: 5, 6, 2^, 3, 4, 1

^Clinched the overall match

So far at Ojai, the Bears still have Klara Fabikova in the main draw for the quarterfinals round.

Pac-12 Championships

April 23, 2015, in Ojai, Calif.

Ojai Valley Athletic Club & Libbey Park

Cal Results

Championship Singles

Round of 32

[4] No. 25 Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Sarah Richter (Utah) – 6-2, 7-5

[8] No. 42 Denise Starr (Cal) def. Kassidy Jump (ASU) – 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4)

[7] No. 41 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. No. 100 Ellen Tsay (Stanford) – 6-1, 6-1.

Round of 16

[4] No. 25 Klara Fabikova (Cal) vs. Donika Bashota (WSU) – 6-3, 6-4

No. 65 Tereza Bekerova (Utah) def. [8] No. 42 Denise Starr (Cal) – 6-4, 6-2

No. 45 Zoë Scandalis (USC) def. [7] No. 41 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) – 6-3, 6-4

Invitational Singles

Round of 16

Zoë Katz (USC) def. [4] No. 92 Karla Popovic (Cal) – 6-2, 6-3

Round of 32

Victoria Robertson (Utah) def. Lyann Hoang (Cal) – 6-4, 6-2

[3] No. 85 Gabby Smith (USC) vs. Stephane Lin (Cal) – 6-0, 6-1

[4] No. 92 Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Inge Hendrikx (Arizona) – 6-1, 6-1

Gussie O’Sullivan (ASU) def. Cecilia Estlander (Cal) – 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

Cal Rugby advanced to Varsity Cup Final against BYU (next Saturday, May 1st)

Bears took care of business on Cal Day when they beat Navy 57-15 in the Varsity Cup Semifinal. Navy put up a tough fight against the Bears to keep things close at the half (Bears were merely up 16-3) and Navy actually got the first try (and conversion) right at the beginning of the 2nd half to make it 16-10 match. Bears answered with 3 tries of their own. Navy got one final try, before the Bears closed the match out with 4 tries.

The Scoring Timeline vs. Navy

07:00 Harry Adolphus 5

13:00 Navy (Jack McAuliffe) 3

19:00 Miles Honens 5

31:00 Russell Webb 3

38:00 Jake Anderson 3

Halftime Score: California 16, Navy 3

41:00 Navy (Justin Manke) 5, (Jack McAuliffe) 2

43:00 Alec Gletzer 5

53:00 Anthony Salaber 5, Jake Anderson 2

57:00 Anthony Salaber 5

61:00 Navy (Dakota Raymond) 5

63:00 Nicklas Boyer 5, Jake Anderson 2

66:00 Nicklas Boyer 5, Jake Anderson 2

72:00 Russell Webb 5

77:00 Spencer Morris 5

Final Score: California 57, Navy 15

The Team vs. Navy

15. Anderson (Morris @ 73:00), 14. Battaglia, 13. Adolphus, 12. A. Salaber, 11. Honens (Libarle @ 73:00), 10. Webb, 9. Bosco (Boyer @ 55:00), 1. Walsh, 2. Bush (Moscone @ 73:00), 3. Vrame, 4. Kondrat, 5. Sina (Zerbino @ 68:00), 6. Hendrickson (Tandy @ 60:00), 7. Gletzer (Gaffney @ 73:00), 8. Sweet

To the surprise of very few people, the Varsity Cup final will be yet another Cal-BYU showdown. Is this the year when the Bears can finally bring home a Varsity Cup victory? We shall have more on this match and an open thread for it (match is shown live on NBC Sports Network) next Saturday at 1 pm PT.

Cal Women's Water Polo (MPSF Tourney this weekend)

It's the playoffs time for the Bears in Women's Water Polo. 4th Ranked Bears will look to retain that ranking, if not move higher, in order to earn a NCAA Tournament bid. Down at Tempe this weekend, the Bears open the MPSF tournament against host (and 7th ranked) ASU today.

MPSF TOURNAMENT

Mona Plummer Aquatic Center | Tempe, Ariz.

Friday, April 24 Quarterfinals No. 7 Arizona State (16-8) vs. No. 4 Cal (17-6), 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25 TBA Sunday, April 26 TBA

The full schedule is the following:

MPSF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, APRIL 24
No. 7 CSU Bakersfield (12-15) vs. No. 2 UCLA (21-2), 10:30 a.m.
No. 6 San Jose State (19-9) vs. No. 3 USC (21-3), 12:30 p.m.
No. 5 Arizona State (16-8) vs. No. 4 Cal (17-6), 2:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25
CSU Bakersfield/UCLA loser vs. San Jose St/USC loser, 10:30 a.m.
CSU Bakersfield/UCLA winner vs. San Jose St./USC winner, 12:30 p.m.
Arizona State/Cal winner vs. No. 1 Stanford (21-1), 2:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26
Fifth Place Game, 10:30 a.m.
Third Place Game, 12:30 p.m.
Championship, 2:30 p.m.

All matches are streamed live (and for free) via Pac-12 Digital.

The team got a big signee this past week with the commitment of Sofia Rivas, a member of the Brazilian Youth National and Junior National Team. Rivas play the position of the driver (which wikipedia tells me is a perimeter player in a 3-3 offense).

Cal Baseball battled UCLA hard but lost series, drop midweek game to Stanford

Since my article last week drumming up excitement for Cal Baseball after the big 2-0 win at UCLA, the Bears have followed it up with 3 straight losses. The Saturday finale at UCLA saw the Bears holding on to a slim 1-0 lead but an 8th inning Bruins rally allowed UCLA to win that game 2-1 and take the 3 game series by that same margin.

The midweek loss at Stanford (in a non-conference match) saw the Bears nearly no-hit. Bears did earn two hits in the 9th but still lost 4-0.

This weekend, the 16th ranked Bears head down to Arizona to take on the Arizona Wildcats. Fans can listen to the games on KALX.

CAL BASEBALL
Fri., April 24	Arizona	Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz.	6 p.m.	KALX 90.7 FM
Sat., April 25	Arizona	Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz.	6 p.m.	KALX 90.7 FM
Sun., April 26	Arizona	Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz.	12 p.m.	KALX 90.7 FM

Cal Softball (32-12, 5-10 in Pac-12)

20th ranked Cal Softball had a hard series down at Westwood last weekend. Losing 8-0 (5), 5-3, and 8-5 to the 8th ranked Bruins. Bears will look to rebound when they host the Washington Huskies in Berkeley this weekend.

Here is your weekly reminder to vote for Cheyenne Cordes for the Senior CLASS Award.

.@CheycheyCordes is a TOP 10 FINALIST for the Senior CLASS Award! Vote every day til May 11 at http://t.co/5uHKrZ15z5 pic.twitter.com/9p2K2PLR3p

— Cal Softball (@CalSoftball) April 7, 2015

Cal Lacrosse

Year 1 of the Brooke Eubanks era has saw little improvement by the Bears in the results column as the Bears have a record of 3-12. Nevertheless, the Bears defeated Colorado 12-10 last Sunday in a Pac-12 Networks match and will host Stanford (what's the rivalry call here? Big Stick?) this Sunday at noon.

The Colorado win was largely due to the effort of sophomore attacker Bella Huther who got 4 goals and 3 assists. Bella was named MPSF Offensive Player of the Week.

Off the field, the Bears have a special honorary member. Check out that story in the video below.

GO BEARS!