California Golden Bears Athletics

BERKELEY - Maria Smith clinched her third Cal victory of the season as the No. 14/16 Golden Bears throttled Arizona, 7-0, on a sunny Friday afternoon at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The senior co-captain defeated Marie Van Aelst, 6-1, 6-4, to secure the win.

Cal improved its overall record to 7-3 and its Pac-12 record to 2-0 after capturing the conference match. Arizona dropped to 8-6 (0-3 Pac-12).

Arizona pushed the Bears in doubles. After Cal's 23rd-ranked pair of Anna Bright and Jasie Dunk beat Camila Wesbrooks and Gitte Heynemans, 6-1, on court two, Arizona's Van Aelst and Talya Zandberg topped Smith and Katerina Stloukalova, 6-3, on court three. On court one, the 26th-ranked Cal duo of Hana Mraz and Julia Rosenqvist trailed Emma Wilson and Sophia Thomas, 5-4, before rallying to prevail, 7-5, and clinch the 1-0 lead.
 
Bright, ranked 74th in singles, quickly doubled Cal's lead after beating Zandberg, 6-1, 6-2, on court three. On court two, Stloukalova – ranked 115th – gave the Bears a 3-0 lead with her 6-1, 6-4 win over Wesbrooks. Smith then secured the victory with her win on court four, which gave Cal a 4-0 lead. The Bears won the remaining three matches to make the final score 7-0.

"It's nice to be back home here at Hellman and continue with our Pac-12 schedule," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "Arizona competed hard against us, and we had to make sure we stayed focused with our gameplan. This is our second 7-0 win this year, and it's good to see us finishing off matches the right way. I was pleased to see how we were able to close out matches on several of those courts.
 
"That was a good win for Julia over Emma Wilson, who never gives up before the last point. Julia did a good job of closing that match out at the end, after Emma made several adjustments throughout the match."

The Bears next host Arizona State in another Pac-12 match on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Hellman.

No. 14/16 California (7-3, 2-0 Pac-12) defeated Arizona (8-6, 0-3 Pac-12), 7-0
March 15, 2019, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. No. 26 Hana Mraz/Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. Emma Wilson/Sophia Thomas (Arizona), 7-5*
2. No. 23 Anna Bright/Jasie Dunk (Cal) def. Camila Wesbrooks/Gitte Heynemans (Arizona), 6-1
3. Marie Van Aelst/Talya Zandberg (Arizona) def. Maria Smith/Katerina Stloukalova (Cal), 6-3
 
Cal won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 25 Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. Emma Wilson (Arizona), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
2. No. 115 Katerina Stloukalova (Cal) def. Camila Wesbrooks (Arizona), 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 74 Anna Bright (Cal) def. Talya Zandberg (Arizona), 6-1, 6-2
4. Maria Smith (Cal) def. Marie Van Aelst (Arizona), 6-1, 6-4^
5. Hana Mraz (Cal) def. Gitte Heynemans (Arizona), 7-5, 7-5
6. Alexis Nelson (Cal) def. Sophia Thomas (Arizona), 7-6(5), 3-6, 1-0(9)
 
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4^, 5, 1, 6
^Clinched the overall match