BERKELEY – The California women’s tennis program capped an eventful season with a No. 10 ranking in the last ITA team poll of the season, the ITA announced on Tuesday. The Golden Bears reached the NCAA Championship round of 16, won the Pac-12 title and produced the NCAA singles runner-up in sophomore Lynn Chi, who also claimed All-America honors during her run to the national final.
Cal compiled a 20-5 record that included such notable victories as a 4-3 quarterfinal win over then-No. 6 Georgia in the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships; a come-from-behind, 4-3 win over then-No. 3 (and eventual NCAA champ) UCLA during the regular season; and a 6-1 upset at then-No. 5 Stanford to clinch the Bears’ first Pac-12 championship. The Bears also finished the season with a perfect, 10-0 conference record. They ended the NCAA Championship with a loss to Stanford in the round of 16 in Atlanta, Georgia.
A few days after Cal’s exit from the NCAA team tournament, Chi started a five-match winning streak in NCAA singles. That streak featured upsets of four higher-ranked opponents, including Michigan's ninth-ranked Emina Bektas in the first round, UCLA's eighth-ranked Jennifer Brady in the round of 16, North Carolina's top-ranked Jamie Loeb in the quarterfinals and Georgia State's 22nd-ranked Abigail Tere-Apisah in the semifinals. Chi – who finished the season with a team-high 38 singles wins - wound up with All-America honors for reaching the round of 16. She fell to Virginia's Danielle Collins in the title match on May 26 in Athens, Georgia.
The Bears could earn more All-America honors once the final ITA singles rankings come out on June 4, as players ranked in the ITA’s top 20 also attain All-America status. Cal senior Anett Schutting – who reached the Pac-12 singles semifinals – is ranked No. 18 and junior Zsofi Susanyi is ranked 23rd in the most recent ITA rankings; both fell in the NCAA singles round of 32 to conclude their respective seasons.
