BERKELEY – Fifteenth-ranked California women's tennis had a potential rout on its hands when it took a 3-0 lead over unranked Hawai'i on a windy Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. But the gutsy Rainbow Wahine battled back to tie the match 3-3, before Cal senior co-captain Maria Smith clinched a 4-3 Cal victory with a three-set win over Roxanne Resma.
 
Smith edged Resma, 6-2, 6-7(2), 7-6(5), to lift Cal to a 9-3 record after the nonconference match. Hawai'i's record is 3-7.
 
The Golden Bears had to fight back to win the doubles point, with Hawai'i taking a 5-1 lead on court one, Hawai'i taking a 5-4 lead on court two and Hawai'i's Alzbeta Houbova and Maayan Sela topping Cal's Olivia Hauger and Katerina Stloukalova, 6-4, on court three. The 13th-ranked pair of Julia Rosenqvist and Hana Mraz rallied to force a tiebreaker on court one and ultimately defeated Petra Melounoa and Nikola Dolakova, 7-6(2). The 23rd-ranked Cal pair of Anna Bright and Jasie Dunk also rallied to prevail, 7-5, over Resma and Michelle Pits on court two and clinch the point.
 
Cal won the first two singles matches in straight sets, as the 74th-ranked Bright beat Sela, 6-1, 6-2, on court two and Stloukalova bested Dolakova, 6-2, 6-3, on court three, to give the Bears their 3-0 lead.
 
But the Rainbow Wahine – led by head coach Jun Hernandez, a former Cal assistant coach – followed with straight-set wins of their own on courts one and six to climb to within one of Cal at 3-2. Hawai'i then claimed a three-set win on court four to knot the match at 3-3, until Smith, on court four, earned her team-leading fourth clinching victory of the season.
 
"We definitely didn't come out with the same intensity in doubles as we had in our last two matches, so we need to work on that for our next match," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "It was a good wake-up call. We weren't playing aggressive enough either, which we were doing well with in our last few matches. A little bit of that carried over into the singles.
 
"This was a great win for the team today. But it's also a good learning experience. Credit to Hawai'i. I thought they competed really hard and with class. They're a well-coached team. We're happy to see one of our senior co-captains close out the match. We did a good job getting through that match today."
 
Cal returns to Pac-12 Conference action when it plays No. 13 USC on March 29 and No. 9 UCLA on March 30 in Los Angeles.
 
No. 15/19 California (9-3) defeated Hawai'i (3-7), 5-2
March 23, 2019, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. No. 13 Hana Mraz/Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. Petra Melounova/Nikola Dolakova (Hawai'i), 7-6(2)
2. No. 23 Anna Bright/Jasie Dunk (Cal) def. Michelle Pits/Roxanne Resma (Hawai'i), 7-5*
3. Alzbeta Houbova/Maayan Sela (Hawai'i) def. Olivia Hauger/Katerina Stloukalova (Cal), 6-4
 
Cal won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
*Clinched the doubles point
 
Singles
1. No. 100 Petra Melounova (Hawai'i) def. No. 30 Julia Rosenqvist (Cal), 7-6(4), 6-3
2. No. 74 Anna Bright (Cal) def. Maayan Sela (Hawai'i), 6-1, 6-2
3. Katerina Stloukalova (Cal) def. Nikola Dolakova (Hawai'i), 6-2, 6-3
4. Michelle Pits (Hawai'i) def. Hana Mraz (Cal), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
5. Maria Smith (Cal) def. Roxanne Resma (Hawai'i), 6-2, 6-7(2), 7-6(5)^
6. Alzbeta Houbova (Hawai'i) def. Alexis Nelson (Cal), 6-2, 7-5
 
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 6, 4, 5^
^Clinched the overall match