CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In a first-round battle of the Bears at the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship on Friday, fourth-ranked and fourth-seeded California defeated No. 13 Baylor, 4-2, at the Boar's Head Sports Club. Cal senior Florian Lakat beat Juan Benitez at court-one singles to clinch the match.
 
Cal (4-0) advances to the quarterfinal round to take on fifth-ranked and fifth-seeded North Carolina, which defeated Georgia, 4-2, on Friday. The Golden Bears will play the Tar Heels on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
 
Baylor (7-1) moves on to the consolation bracket.
 
Lakat, ranked 11th, beat the 54th-ranked Benitez 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-4 to end Friday's action. Earlier, Cal senior Andre Goransson and junior Billy Griffith knocked off Benitez and Constantin Frantzen, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point.
 
After doubles, the 40th-ranked Griffith quickly gave Cal a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jimmy Bendeck on court four to give Cal a 2-0 lead over Baylor. But four of the six courts went to first-set tiebreakers, with Cal losing tiebreakers on courts two and six. Cal junior J.T. Nishimura went on to lose on six to Frantzen, 7-6(4), 6-3, which left Cal leading 2-1 overall.
 
Cal freshman Bjorn Hoffmann gave the Golden Bears a little more breathing room by beating Will Little, 7-6(5), 6-2, on court five. But then the 42nd-ranked Bergevi lost to Johannes Schretter, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, on court three, and Cal led 3-2, before Lakat handed Cal the victory.
 
"You've got to give a lot of credit to the Baylor team," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "They're well-coached, and they fought back extremely well after losing the doubles point. Our team energy was very positive going into the doubles, and I think we played the doubles point extremely well.
 
"In singles, Billy Griffith played a flawless match, and Bjorn Hoffmann also looked to be in control throughout. J.T. Nishimura looked good out there today, but in singles he understandably showed signs of not having played a competitive singles match in several months.
 
"The match came down to Florian, Andre and Filip all playing very competitive third sets. If Baylor beats all three of our seniors, then they deserve the win. In the end, Florian Lakat came through with some great serves and overpowering forehands to clinch the match for us."

National indoors will conclude with Monday's final.
 
ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship
Feb. 17, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va.
Boar's Head Sports Club
 
Round of 16
 
No. 4 [4] California (4-0) defeated No. 13 Baylor (7-1), 4-2
 
Doubles
1. No. 3 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Max Tchoutakian/Johannes Schretter (BU), 6-2
2. Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Juan Benitez/Constanin Frantzen (BU), 6-3
3. Jimmy Bendeck/Will Little (BU) vs. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 5-2 Abandoned
 
Cal won the doubles point
 
Order of Finish: 1, 2*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 11 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. No. 54 Juan Benitez (BU), 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-4
2. No. 27 Andre Goransson (Cal) vs. No. 57 Max Tchoutakian (BU), 6-7(7), 6-4, 4-5 Abandoned
3. Johannes Schretter (BU) def. No. 42 Filip Bergevi (Cal), 6-3, 0-6, 6-4
4. No. 40 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Jimmy Bendeck (BU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) def. Will Little (BU), 7-6(5), 6-2
6. Constanin Frantzen (BU) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 7-6(4), 6-3
 
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 5, 3, 1^
 
^Clinched the overall match