BERKELEY - For the second straight match, No. 7/5 California posted a thrilling 4-3 victory under the lights at the Hellman Tennis Complex, this time with Andre Goransson clinching Tuesday night's exciting 4-3 victory over No. 9/14 Michigan. The Golden Bears had trailed 3-1 to the visiting Wolverines, before wins by Billy Griffith and Florian Lakat tied things at 3-3. Goransson, a senior ranked 26th, then rebounded from losing a second set he had led 5-3 to defeat the 66th-ranked Myles Schalet, 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2.

Cal improved its record to 8-1. Michigan is now 7-2.

"An incredible performance from our guys tonight!" Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "The match had so many twists and turns, and I'm so impressed with our performances on the top three courts. The doubles point was key again today and it gave us a bit of confidence going into the singles. Give credit to Michigan because they came out swinging in the singles and put us on our heels.
 
"Our team is doing a great job of staying focused, even in the face of great adversity. Even though we went down 3-1, I could tell our guys weren't giving up. I think our guys actually like the drama. That's our first full match under our new lights, and it felt great to have so many fans there cheering us on."
 
Cal won the doubles point with wins from Goransson and junior Billy Griffith, who beat Jathan Malik and Connor Johnston, 6-2, on court one, and from junior J.T. Nishimura and freshman Bjorn Hoffmann, who defeated Schalet and Kevin Wong, 6-3, on court three to clinch the point.
 
And the Bears needed the point Tuesday night just as they did on Sunday afternoon, when they ended what started out as a mid-afternoon match against UC Santa Barbara and turned into a 4-3 victory under the lights at Hellman.
 
In singles on Tuesday, the Wolverines won on courts six, four and five to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the host Bears. Griffith, ranked 80th, dropped his first set on court three but bounced back to win, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, and make the overall score 3-2.
 
Court one featured Cal's 20th-ranked Florian Lakat taking on Malik. The unranked Wolverine pushed the Golden Bear senior, who won a close first set but lost the second. In the end, Lakat found his groove in the third to post a 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-2 victory that tied the match at 3-3.
 
Over on court two, Goransson had his own battle going with Schalet, who fended off a few match points from Goransson in the second set. But the veteran Bear likewise got back on track to win in three sets, with his teammates rushing the court to celebrate the win with him when he clinched.
 
"I tried to stay focused throughout the match," Goransson said. "I was a little bit unlucky on some of the match points in the second set. He played really well on most of them. I have to give credit to him. But I think I was pretty resilient today."
 
Of celebrating with his teammates, he added, "You don't get to play these three-all matches every day, and when you do, it's really amazing to have all your brothers, basically, on the side (of the court). It's an amazing feeling."

The Bears next play at San Diego at noon on Thursday, and then they start play in the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships on Friday in La Jolla, California.

No. 7/5 Cal (8-1) defeated No. 9/14 Michigan (7-2), 4-3
Feb. 28, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (Cal) def. No. 22 Jathan Malik/Connor Johnston (Michigan), 6-2
2. No. 28 Alex Knight/Runhao Hua vs. Dominic Barretto/Florian Lakat (Cal) 5-4 Unfinished
3. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Myles Schalet/Kevin Wong (Michigan), 6-3
 
Order of Finish: 1, 3*
 
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 20 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Jathan Malik (Michigan), 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-2
2. No. 26 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. No. 66 Myles Schalet (Michigan), 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2
3. No. 80 Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Alex Knight (Michigan), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. No. 95 Kevin Wong (Michigan) def. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal), 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
5. Runhao Hua (Michigan) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 6-3, 7-5
6. Carter Lin (Michigan) def. Dominic Barretto (Cal), 6-2, 6-3
 
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 5, 3, 1, 2^
 
^Clinched the overall match