BERKELEY – Filip Bergevi made sure he wouldn't miss national indoors in his final year as a collegian.
 
The Golden Bear clinched No. 4 California's 4-2 victory over Tulane on Saturday in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final at the Hellman Tennis Complex to qualify Cal for the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship. The senior from Ahus, Sweden, also paired with senior Florian Lakat to clinch the doubles point against the Green Wave.
 
"We had much better energy and focus at the start of our doubles today, and that put us in a great position going into the singles," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "You have to credit Tulane today because they didn't fade when we got an early lead. They really made us earn it, and I have tremendous respect for their team and their coaching staff. Tulane put us in some difficult positions today, and we had to figure out ways to rise to the challenge. In many ways, this is the type of match that helps us grow as a team."
 
Last season, bad weather on the East Coast prevented the Bears from traveling to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Duke and thus kept them from potentially qualifying for the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship. It's a different story this year, as Cal has qualified for the 16-team field in the Feb. 17-20 tournament in Charlottesville, Virginia. Cal previously competed at national indoors in 2015.
 
"I'm pleased our seniors have earned a trip back to Charlottesville for the national team indoors again this year," Wright said. "Last year, we earned a place in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend but got turned back at the Oakland airport and missed the tournament due to the super storm on the East Coast. Our guys are excited to have the opportunity to compete for the national team indoor title this year."
 
"It feels great," Bergevi said of qualifying. "Indoors is a fun tournament. It was a bummer last year that we couldn't make it. We were really excited to, and we really thought we were going to make it to the final 16. This year we made it. Hopefully we're going to great in Virginia."
 
On Saturday, the second-ranked pair of Bergevi and Lakat clinched doubles with a 6-3 triumph over the Green Wave's Chi-Shan Jao and Sebastian Rey on court one, and later Bergevi rebounded to win a three-setter against Rey in singles, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and book the Bears' tickets to Charlottesville.
 
"I came out playing good doubles, and I felt like maybe a little too relaxed after winning the doubles point, and I went for a lot of shots (in singles), and they didn't really go my way," Bergevi said. "But I still felt like after the first set, I was still close to coming back there at the end. I still had good, positive energy going into the second set, which helped me. Once he saw me fighting more and getting to more balls, he kind of broke down a little bit, and I got the momentum from there and I was serving better, which helped me throughout the second and third sets."
 
Also in doubles, the 45th-ranked Cal duo of senior Andre Goransson and junior Billy Griffith blanked Tulane's Ewan Moore and Luis Erlenbush, 6-0, on court two.
 
After the doubles point gave Cal a 1-0 lead, the 15th-ranked Goransson defeated Moore in singles, 6-2, 6-3, on court two to make it a 2-0 Cal advantage. Griffith, ranked 32nd, gave Cal a 3-0 lead with his 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over Tyler Schick on court four.
 
One point away from elimination, the Green Wave finally got on the scoreboard when the 54th-ranked Constantin Schmitz upset the 12th-ranked Lakat, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, on court one. Cal's lead dwindled to one at 3-2 when Erlenbusch beat Cal's 82nd-ranked Bjorn Hoffman, 6-4, 7-6(8), on court five.
 
With freshman Connor Heaps' court-six match against Tim Ruetzel heading into a third set, Bergevi ended the competition with his court-three win.
 
Earlier at Hellman, Cal Poly defeated Pepperdine, 4-3, in the consolation match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
 
Before national indoors, Cal plays dual matches at No. 18 Stanford on Feb. 3 and at Pepperdine on Feb. 12.

ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 28, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Final
 
No. 4 California (2-0) defeated Tulane (3-1), 4-2
 
Doubles
1. No. 2 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Chi-Shan Jao/Sebastian Rey (Tulane), 6-3
2. No. 45 Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Ewan Moore/Luis Erlenbusch (Tulane), 6-0
3. Tyler Schick/Constantin Schmitz (Tulane) vs. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 5-4 Abandoned
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 2, 1*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 54 Constantin Schmitz (Tulane) def. No. 12 Florian Lakat (Cal), 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 15 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Ewan Moore (Tulane), 6-2, 6-3
3. No. 69 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. Sebastian Rey (Tulane), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. No. 32 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Tyler Schick (Tulane), 6-2, 7-6(3)
5. Luis Erlenbusch (Tulane) def. No. 82 Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal), 6-4, 7-6(8)
6. Connor Heap (Cal) vs. Tim Ruetzel (Tulane), 6-7(7), 6-0 Abandoned
 
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 5, 3^
 
^Clinched the overall match
 
Consolation Match
 
Cal Poly (2-1) defeated Pepperdine (1-2), 4-3
 
Doubles
1. No. 21 Ben Donovan/Corey Pang (Cal Poly) def. Jack Van Slyke/Stefan Menichella (Pepperdine), 6-2
2. Gabriel Sidney/Guilherme Hadlich (Pepperdine) def. No. 53 Garrett Auproux/Tim Tan (Cal Poly), 6-1
3. Karl Enander/Antoine Noel (Cal Poly) def. Dane Esses/Pedro Iamachkine (Pepperdine), 7-5
 
Cal Poly won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. Guilherme Hadlich (Pepperdine) def. No. 45 Ben Donovan (Cal Poly), 6-4, 6-4
2. Corey Pang (Cal Poly) def. Stefan Menichella (Pepperdine), 6-1, 6-3
3. Pedro Iamachkine (Pepperdine) def. Garrett Auproux (Cal Poly), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
4. Josh Ortlip (Cal Poly) def. Lautaro Pane (Pepperdine), 6-0, 6-1
5. Jack Van Slyke (Pepperdine) def. Antoine Noel (Cal Poly), 6-4, 2-6, 6-0
6. Axel Damiens (Cal Poly) def. Dane Esses (Pepperdine), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
 
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 6^
 
^Clinched the overall match