BERKELEY -Â Playing in the penultimate regular-season home match of her career,
Cecilia Estlander won on court five to give fourth-ranked California an eventual 7-0 nonconference victory over Big Sky champion Sacramento State on Friday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Estlander prevailed, 6-0, 6-2, over the Hornets' Olivia Boija. The Golden Bears - who have won seven straight dual matches - improved their record to 19-3, while the Hornets are now 16-10.
"The girls played really well today," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "In the singles we lifted our game to another level, which is nice to see and is good preparation going into tomorrow (against Stanford)."
The Bears won all three doubles matches to claim the doubles point. First on court one (Newmark Stadium), the 10th-ranked pair of senior Zsofi Susanyi and junior Klara Fabikova beat the Hornets' Olivia Boija and Jennifer Ong, 8-2. The Bears clinched doubles when the freshman duo of Lyann Hoang and Karla Popovic defeated Daria Savchenko and Ana Loazia Esquivias, 8-5, on court three (Mascarin Court). The teams played out the match on court two (Bud Chandler Court), as Cal senior Cecilia Estlander and sophomore Denise Starr held off the team of Alina Soltanici and Deimante Bulatovaite, 8-7(1).
In singles, Susanyi -Â ranked 40th -Â took roughly 40 minutes to defeat Anna-Maria Nau, 6-0, 6-0, on court three and give Cal a 2-0 lead over the Hornets. Two other matches were still in their first sets when Susanyi and Nau did their post-match handshake.
A minute later, the 24th-ranked Fabikova made it 3-0 Cal when she topped Soltanici, 6-1, 6-0, on court one, and then Estlander clinched the match on Hirschler-Davidson Court.
"It always feels really good when you clinch a match," Estlander said. "I was looking at the scoreboard and saw that Karla was catching up to me, so I had to stay disciplined at the end of the match, and, yeah, I got it done."
After Estlander's victory, Cal got wins from the 89th-ranked Popovic, 48th-ranked Starr and, in the last match of the day, Hoang to make the final score, 7-0.
Cal hosts Stanford in the Big Slam on Saturday at noon at the Hellman Tennis Complex to close the regular season. The Bears will honor Susanyi and Estlander prior to the match -Â the last regular-season home contest of their careers -Â during the Senior Day ceremony.
No. 4 California (19-3) defeated Sacramento State (16-10) -Â 7-0
April 17, 2015, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. No. 10 Klara Fabikova/Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. Jennifer Ong/Olivia Boija (Sac. St.) - 8-2
2. Cecilia Estlander/Denise Starr (Cal) def. Alina Soltanici/Deimante Bulatovaite (Sac. St.) -Â 8-7(1)
3. Lyann Hoang/Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Daria Savchenko/Ana Loaiza Esquivias (Sac. St.) - 8-5
Cal captured the doubles point
Order of finish: 1, 3* 2
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 24 Klara Fabikova (Cal) def. Alina Soltanici (Sac. St.) - 6-1, 6-0
2. No. 48 Denise Starr (Cal) vs. Deimante Bulatovaite (Sac. St.) - 7-5, 6-1
3. No. 40 Zsofi Susanyi (Cal) def. Anna-Maria Nau (Sac. St.) - 6-0, 6-0
4. No. 89 Karla Popovic (Cal) def. Jennifer Ong (Sac. St.) - 6-1, 6-2
5. Cecilia Estlander (Cal) def. Olivia Boija (Sac. St.) - 6-0, 6-2
6. Lyann Hoang (Cal) def. Ana Loaiza Esquivias (Sac. St.) -Â 6-1, 4-6, 1-0(6)
Order of finish: 3, 1, 5^, 4, 2, 6
^Clinched the overall match