BERKELEY - Despite leading 3-0, fifth-ranked California lost its first dual match of the season at home to No. 11 USC, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Trojans clinched the victory when Cal's top-ranked Maegan Manasse fell to the 22nd-ranked Giuliana Olmos on court one, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The Golden Bears' record now stands at 5-2 after the nonconference match. USC improved to 9-1.

The loss is Cal's first at home since a March 8, 2014, loss to Stanford, which was Cal's only home defeat last season.

“We had five matches that went to three sets today – that's pretty typical when we play our L.A. rivals and Stanford,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “These matches are really good for everybody, for them, for us. This is what makes all of us better by the end of the season. Of course we're a little disappointed that we didn't pull through on one of those courts. But credit to SC – they had four seniors out there, and they wanted it really bad. They fought through it and played a little better than us at the end of the match today.”

USC won the first match of the day, with the Cal pair of junior Lynn Chi and freshman Karla Popovic falling to Zoë Katz/Sabrina Santamaria, 8-1,  at court-three doubles. But the Bears rebounded with wins on court one – eighth-ranked Manasse and Denise Starr beat No. 15 Giuliana Olmos/Zoë Scandalis, 8-4 – and court two – No. 16 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi defeated Madison Westby/Gabby Smith, 8-5 - and captured the doubles point.

“I thought we played quite well in doubles,” Augustus said. “That was one of the best doubles matches that Maegan and Denise have played. Also Klara and Zsofi did a really good job against a doubles team we hadn't really seen before.”

Things started well in singles, as Cal won the first set on five out of six courts. That included court five, on which the 28th-ranked Popovic beat Westby, 6-3, 6-3, to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. Starr, a sophomore ranked 59th, knocked off Smith, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1, to make the score 3-0.

Cal senior Susanyi, ranked 20th in singles, bolted out to a 6-3 first-set win over the 65th-ranked Scandalis on court three. But the Trojan wound up winning, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0, go make the overall score 3-1. Court six featured another Trojan coming from behind to win, as DeSimone beat Cal senior Cecilia Estlander, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, and led 3-2 overall.

The Bears had hope on court two, where the 34th-ranked Fabikova had an early third-set lead on Santamaria at 2-1. But the Cal junior lost 6-1, 5-7, 6-2

That left court one to decide the match. Down 5-3 in the third set, the tenacious Manasse staved off a couple of match points but ultimately fell to Olmos.

“We'll talk about it, and we'll make a few adjustments for tomorrow,” Augustus said. “That's the thing about these matches – you just have to put them behind you. You learn from it and then play your next match. You can't spend a whole lot of time worrying about it.”

Cal hosts fourth-ranked UCLA in another nonconference competition on Saturday at 1 p.m. It's a double header with Cal men's tennis, which hosts Stanford at 10 a.m. at Hellman.

The Cal women play their Pac-12 Conference matches against USC and UCLA in March in Los Angeles.

No. 11 USC (9-1) defeated No. 5 Cal (5-2) – 4-3

Feb. 20, 2015, in Berkeley, Calif.

Hellman Tennis Complex

Doubles

1. No. 8 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) def. No. 15 Giuliana Olmos/Zoë Scandalis (USC) – 8-4

2. No. 16 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. Madison Westby/Gabby Smith (USC) – 8-5

3. Zoë Katz/Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. Lynn Chi/Karla Popovic (Cal) – 8-1

Cal captured the doubles point.

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*

*Clinched the doubles point

Singles

1. No. 22 Giuliana Olmos (USC) def. No. 1Maegan Manasse (Cal) – 2-6, 6-2, 6-3

2. Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. No. 34 Klara Fabikova (Cal) – 6-1, 5-7, 6-2

3. No. 65 Zoë Scandalis (USC) def. No. 20 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) – 3-6, 6-2, 6-0

4. No. 59 Denise Starr (Cal) def. Gabby Smith (USC) – 6-0, 1-6, 6-1

5. No. 28 Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Madison Westby (USC) – 6-3, 6-3

6. Gabriella DeSimone (USC) def. Cecilia Estlander (Cal) – 2-6, 6-1, 6-3

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

^Clinched the overall match