Maria Smith clinched her third match of the season as the Bears blanked the Wildcats.
BERKELEY -Â
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.
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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.
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"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
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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
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Cal won the doubles point
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point
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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)
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Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4^, 5, 1, 6
^Clinched the overall match
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