MALIBU, Calif. -Â
Karla Popovic clinched her first dual match as a Golden Bear, as the 60th-ranked freshman won on court six to hand ninth-ranked California a 4-3 victory over No. 21 Pepperdine on Saturday at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center. Popovic also teamed with junior
Lynn Chi to clinch the doubles point, as Cal - which won its sixth straight dual match - improved its record to 11-2. The Waves fell to 5-4.
"It was a good win for us today on the road," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "I thought we played really well."
Popovic defeated Christine Maddox, 6-1, 6-3, in singles. The Zabok, Croatia, native improved her singles record to 31-6, giving her the second-most wins on the Cal squad behind sophomore
Maegan Manasse, who has a 32-6 record.
After earlier splitting the first two doubles matches, the Bears clinched the doubles point on court three when Popovic and Chi defeated Danielle Feneridis and Michaela Capannolo, 7-5.
"Clinching the match for the team is still important," Augustus said. "Karla played really quite well today. In singles she did a really good job. Her and Lynn played quite well in doubles and stepped it up when they needed to.
"The doubles point was really important. I thought both teams played really good doubles. That put us in a good position to get started."
Cal rolled to a 3-0 lead in singles when 27th-ranked junior Klara Fabikova beat Laura Gulbe, 6-0, 6-2, on court two and then 29th-ranked senior Zsofi Susanyi topped Michaela Capannolo, 6-1, 6-1, on court four. But the Waves slowed down the Bears when Matea Cutura beat senior Cecilia Estlander, 6-1, 6-1, on court six to make the score 3-1.
After Popovic prevailed on court five to decide the result of the overall match, Cal and Pepperdine completed the remaining two matches. Over on court three, 81st-ranked sophomore Denise Starr lost to Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6, and then the fourth-ranked Manasse fell to the 15th-ranked Lorraine Guillermo, 4-6, 7-6(4), 10-8, on court one to make the final score 4-3.
"We won the first set on five of six courts, so we really came out like I'd like us to do in singles," Augustus said. "On a couple courts we have to work on closing out matches for next time. It's a good Pepperdine team. They've played UCLA and USC close, and they're better than when we last played them in May."
The Bears beat Pepperdine, 4-0, in the NCAA second round on May 10, 2014, in Berkeley.
Cal continues playing in southern California and return to Pac-12 duals when it takes on No. 2 UCLA on March 20 at 1:30 p.m. and against No. 4 USC on March 21 at noon in Los Angeles.
No. 9 California (11-2) defeated No. 21 Pepperdine (5-4) -Â 4-3
March 14, 2015, in San Diego, Calif.
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
Doubles
1. No. 5 Maegan Manasse/Denise Starr (Cal) def. Lorraine Guillermo/Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (Pepperdine) -Â 6-2
2. tNo. 73 Christine Maddox/Matea Cutura (Pepperdine) def. No. 11 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) -Â 6-3
3. Lynn Chi/Karla Popovic (Cal) vs. Danielle Feneridis/Michaela Capannolo (Pepperdine) -Â 7-5
Cal captured the doubles point.
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 15 Lorraine Guillermo (Pepperdine) def. No. 4 Maegan Manasse (Cal) -Â 4-6, 7-6(4), 10-8
2. No. 27 Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Laura Gulbe (Pepperdine) -Â 6-0, 6-2
3. No. 90 Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (Pepperdine) def. No. 81 Denise Starr (Cal) -Â 3-6, 6-3, 10-6
4. No. 29 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. Michaela Capannolo (Pepperdine) -Â 6-1, 6-1
5. No. 60 Karla Popovic (Cal) vs. Christine Maddox (Pepperdine) -Â 6-1, 6-3
6. Matea Cutura (Pepperdine) def. Cecilia Estlander (Cal) -Â 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 6, 5^, 3, 1
^Clinched the overall match
