FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. ? California's Maegan Manasse and Lynn Chi both notched big singles wins at the USTA/ITA National Women's Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Friday, but a semifinal clash between the Golden Bears was not to be. Instead Manasse will take on the player who knocked off Chi in the quarterfinals.
Manasse ? who will battle Miami's 18th-ranked Stephanie Wagner at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday in the semis ? posted a pair of straight-set victories on Friday. First the 43rd-ranked Cal sophomore dispatched Houston's 68th-ranked Despoina Vogasari, 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 16 and then she beat Virginia's 32nd-ranked Stephanie Nauta, 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.
“Maegan's been the most consistent and had the most ranked wins, I think, on our team,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “Maegan's consistently improved throughout the fall. She had only had one loss at the All-American and one loss at the regional. She's put together quite the fall in singles.”
Anett Schutting was the last Bear to reach the singles semifinals at the indoor tournament, as she advanced all the way to the final before losing in 2012.
Chi ? a junior ranked eighth in the ITA preseason singles poll ? began her day in the round of 16 playing Virginia's 10th-ranked and seventh-seeded Danielle Collins in a rematch of the 2014 NCAA singles final. Last time, Chi dropped the first set then lost a tight second set and the match. This time, the Bear lost the first set but won the next two, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, to defeat Collins.
Later in the day, Chi fell to Wagner, 6-1, 6-3, in the quarters.
“I was just so impressed this morning with Lynn getting aback out there against Danielle obviously in different conditions indoors,” Augustus said. “Today she lost the first set but was stroking the ball well, kept working her gameplan, played aggressive when needed and served well. That's a huge victory for her over the reigning NCAA champion and her good friend, Danielle. For Lynn that's definitely the best match she's played this fall against a top opponent.
“This afternoon she didn't play as well as she did this morning. But that win this morning was really huge for Lynn.”
In consolation singles on Friday, Cal's 16th-ranked Zsofi Susanyi defeated Florida's third-seeded and 14th-ranked Brianna Morgan, 6-1, 7-6(4), in the round of 16 to set up a clash with USC's Giuliana Olmos at 9 a.m. ET in Saturday's quarterfinals.
“That's probably Zsofi's best win this fall,” Augustus said. “She played a really smart match. Brianna is a little bit streaky, and Zsofi used variety in her game to manage the match. She got in a little bit of a hole in the second set but was able to rally back to win the set and tiebreak. Credit to Zsofi for her mental toughness. She did a really great job today.”
In main draw doubles, Susanyi paired with Klara Fabikova to take on UCLA's fourth-ranked Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips in the quarterfinals. But the Bears fell, 6-4, 6-4.
The Cal duo of Manasse and sophomore Denise Starr ? ranked 11th and seeded first ? will face North Carolina's 58th-ranked Ashley Dai and Kate Vialle at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in the consolation doubles semifinals.
TEMPE, Ariz. ? Karla Popovic led a three-Bear contingent at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, winning twice on Friday's opening day to advance to Saturday's singles quarterfinals.
The Cal freshman defeated BYU's Toby Miclat in the singles round of 32, 6-4, 6-2. The Bears went 3-0 against BYU in the round of 32, as freshman Lyann Hoang edged Megan Sheehan-Dizon, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, and redshirt freshman Stephane Lin beat Nicolette Tran, 7-5, 6-3.
While Popovic next moved past Arizona State's Ebony Panoho, 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2, Hoang fell to Michigan's Mira Ruder-Hook, 6-3, 6-1, and Lin lost to ASU's Kassidy Jump, 6-0, 6-1, in the round of 16.
Hoang teamed with Popovic in round-robin doubles, with the Bears falling to ASU's Panoho and Alexandra Osborne, 8-4.
The three-day tournament ends on Sunday.
