FLUSHING, N.Y. – Maegan Manasse produced another major highlight at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. While a Saturday doubles rematch didn't go the way she had hoped, the California star earned the tournament's Sportsmanship Award, which is voted on by officials and opposing coaches. Cal All-American Klara Fabikova provided her own highlights, prevailing in two rematches of her own on Saturday to advance to the consolation singles final.
Manasse, an All-American in singles and doubles last season, also played in main draw singles at national indoors, losing in Friday's round of 16.
The Golden Bears swept the Sportsmanship Awards, as Cal junior Andre Goransson claimed the men's honor.
“Sportsmanship is a big part of our program,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “I stress it regularly. It's a unique thing about tennis as a sport. It's always been a very aggressive, athletic game, but there's a big sportsmanship part to it. I'm just excited for Maegan to be recognized for that. That it's something voted on by other coaches and the officials says a lot. Maegan really does compete very fairly and respects the game, and she's a great representative of our program, athletic department and our University. I'm also really excited to see Andre recognized for that as well. It speaks very highly of Cal tennis and the values we try to teach our student-athletes.”
Manasse and fellow junior Denise Starr – ranked third and seeded No. 1 the tournament – took on Kentucky's third-seeded and ninth-ranked Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi in the main draw doubles semifinals at the USTA/ITA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Prior to Saturday, the Cal duo's lone loss in its 10-1 record was courtesy of the Wildcats. But the Bears' record fell to 10-2 after a 6-4, 6-2 setback on Saturday.
“Maegan and Denise played really well yesterday, and they played really well today, but that Kentucky team is very talented,” Augustus said. “They played a very tactically smart match. We tried to make adjustments. All the games were very close even though it was a straight-set match. Quite a few games could've gone either way. Very aggressive tennis with a lot of poaching and down the line returns. I've got to give credit to Kentucky. They played very solid, very aggressive, and their volleys were very sharp today. I thought we served very well today.
“Maegan and Denise have had a fantastic fall. They're like 10-2 in the fall and only lost to one team, this Kentucky team. They have a good shot tomorrow against the North Carolina team in the final. I'm proud of how Maegan and Denise evolved as a team. Hopefully they'll be ranked one or two in the country in the next poll, and they deserve it because they've stepped up and improved. They've been going through a process of acquiring new doubles skills and learning how to use them, and I'm really excited to see how they do this spring.”
Fabikova defeated Michigan's Ronit Yurovsky, 6-4, 7-5, in Saturday's quarterfinals of the consolation singles bracket and then knocked off UCLA's Catherine Harrison, 6-1, 7-5, in the semifinals. The senior takes on Michigan's Brienne Minor in Sunday's final at 10 a.m. ET.
In October, Yurovsky beat Fabikova, 0-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships round of 16. The Cal veteran defeated Harrison in their most recent meeting in the round of 32 of the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-3, in October, though Harrison beat Fabikova, 6-4, 6-0, to capture the 2014 Pac-12 singles title.
“It was a rematch day for Klara as well,” Augustus said. “Ronit beat Klara at the All-American, and Klara was playing her again indoors, which is probably Ronit's best surface. Klara knew she had to be aggressive from the first point, and she did a good job of that. Klara's been working on her serve at this tournament and has been getting better and better each match. She was able to move forward aggressively into the court quite often. She volleyed quite well today. She did very well with her overheads, and all those pieces of her game helped her finish off points.”
The tournament - hosted by Columbia Universit - ends on Sunday.
TEMPE, Ariz. – Lynn Chi lost in the main draw singles semifinals Saturday at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational and will play in Sunday's third-place match.
The 39th-ranked Chi beat Fresno State's Anneka Watts, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals earlier in the day, but she then lost to Michigan's Kate Fahey, 6-3, 6-3, in the semis. The Cal senior will face Arizona State's Ebony Panoho in Sunday's third-place game at 9:30 a.m. MT.
Cal sophomore Karla Popovic – ranked 64th in singles – earned a walkover in the semifinals of the Maroon Draw Second-Round Consolation Bracket when San Diego's Drew Spinosa withdrew from the tournament. She'll play the Sun Devils' Kassidy Jump in Sunday's final at 9:30 a.m. MT.
In the Sparky Draw First-Round Consolation Bracket, Stephane Lin beat Michigan's Kara Hall in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-3. But the Cal junior lost to Lana Groenvynck of Texas in the semis, 6-3, 6-4.
In the quarterfinals of the Sparky Draw First-Round Consolation Back Draw, Cal sophomore Audrey Mayer fell to Minnesota's Caroline Ryba, 6-0, 6-1.
Cal lost both its doubles matches on Saturday. The pair of Popovic and Lyann Hoang fell to Fresno State sisters Sophie and Anneka Watts, 8-5, while Mayer and Lin lost to USD's Spinosa and Dana Oppinger, 8-5.
The ASU Thunderbird Invitational concludes on Sunday.
