BERKELEY - Leading 3-1, No. 11 California looked to be cruising to a victory over unranked UNLV in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend opener - which was also Cal's dual-match opener - at the Hellman Tennis Complex on Friday. But the feisty Rebels won the next two matches to tie things at 3-3. Golden Bear sophomore Alexis Nelson - at one point down 4-2 in the third set of her singles match - finally prevailed, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4, over Samantha Li to give Cal a 4-3 victory and a spot in Saturday's final.

Cal's Saturday's opponent was determined Friday evening, when No. 12 Texas beat Mississippi State, 4-1, under the lights at chilly Hellman. The Bears (1-0) will play the Longhorns (3-0) at 1 p.m. on Saturday for the right to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Mississippi State (2-1) will play UNLV (2-1) at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the consolation match.

The Cal-UNLV match started about an hour and a half late, as staff dried Hellman courts that were wet from early morning rain.
 
The Bears then dropped the doubles point despite a 6-1 win for juniors Olivia Hauger and Maria Smith over UNLV's Li and Anna Bogoslavets on court two. The Rebels clinched when Izumi Asano and Juliet Zhang beat Nelson and freshman Vivian Glozman, 7-5, on court three.
 
Cal turned things around quickly when it won the first three matches in singles. The Bears led 3-1 when the 40th-ranked Hauger bested Bogoslavets, 6-1, 7-5, on court four.
 
But two straight wins – including Aiwen Zhu's 7-6(8), 6-4 upset of the 27th-ranked Bright on court one – knotted the match at 3-3, before Nelson led Cal to victory on court five.
 
"Today was our first dual match, so there are some adjustments to be made," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "I didn't think we did a particularly great job in the doubles. I think we'll adjust for tomorrow."
 
Senior Karla Popovic – a singles All-American last season – did not play Friday and Glozman didn't play after doubles, which gave Nelson the chance to help her teammates in singles.
 
"It's always great for as many people as possible to get those opportunities, because they all work hard every day at practice," Augustus said. "You never know, with a long season ahead of us, who's going to need to step up and get the win for the team. Today it happened to be Alexis. She's been working very hard in practice and has been building up to this. She's improved her serve, is playing much more of the aggressive-style of game that we feel she can play, and is managing the pacing of her game well. That's great for her and for us."


ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Jan. 26, 2018, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
No. 11 Cal (1-0) defeats UNLV (2-1), 4-3

Doubles
1. Aiwen Zhu/En-Pei Huang (UNLV) def. Anna Bright/Julia Rosenqvist (Cal), 6-3
2. Olivia Hauger/Maria Smith (Cal) def. Anna Bogoslavets/Samantha Li (UNLV), 6-1
3. Izumi Asano/Juliet Zhang (UNLV) def. Vivian Glozman/Alexis Nelson (Cal), 7-5*
 
UNLV won the doubles point

*Clinched the doubles point
Order of Finish – 2, 1, 3*
 
Singles
1. Aiwen Zhu (UNLV) def. No. 27 Anna Bright (Cal), 7-6(8), 6-4
2. Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. En-Pei Huang (UNLV), 6-2, 6-4
3. Maria Smith (Cal) def. Izumi Asano (UNLV), 6-3, 6-3
4. No. 40 Olivia Hauger (Cal) def. Anna Bogoslavets (UNLV), 6-1, 7-5
5. Alexis Nelson (Cal) def. Samantha Li (UNLV), 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4^
6. Juliet Zhang (UNLV) def. Jasie Dunk (Cal), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
 
^Clinched the overall match
Order of Finish – 2, 3, 4, 6, 1, 5^
 

No. 12 Texas (3-0) defeats Mississippi State (2-1), 4-1

Doubles
1. Madison Harrison/Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU) def. Petra Granic/Anna Turati (Texas), 6-4
2. Janina Braun/Magda Adaloglu (MSU) def. Bojana Markovic/Bianca Turati (Texas), 7-5*
3. Fernanda Labrana/Marta Perez-Mur (Texas) def. Anastasia Rentouli/Sara Lizariturry (MSU), 6-3

Mississippi State won the doubles point
 
*Clinched the doubles point
Order of Finish – 3, 1, 2*
 
Singles
1. No. 10 Bianca Turati (Texas) def. Madison Harrison (MSU), 6-0, 6-1
2. No. 32 Petra Granic (Texas) def. Janina Braun (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 87 Anna Turati (Texas) def. Magda Adaloglu (MSU), 6-3, 6-1^
4. Bojana Markovic (Texas) def. Anastasia Rentouli (MSU), 6-1, 6-0
5. Sara Lizariturry (MSU) vs. Fernanda Labrana (Texas), 7-6, 2-0 Unfinished
6. Marta Perez-Mur (Texas) vs. Khrystyna Vozniak (MSU), 6-3, 5-5 Unfinished

^Clinched the overall match
Order of Finish – 1, 4, 2, 3^